Web of Dreams
by ParadiseAvenger
Summary: For Anonymous XD. Sakura had always lived on the streets, suffering, hiding. Unspeakable evil sought to rend her very heart apart. Prince Syaoran knew nothing of her, but their fates had been intertwined. Everything is HITSUZEN! Adult themes.
1. The Little Flies

Please, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! The Breaking of Poisonwood by **Paradise Avenger**. (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected _this_. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The _Poisonwood_—)

Alright! The idea for this story comes from Anonymous xD so thank you very much! You didn't give me much to work with so I'll be just kind of going with the flow of this story!

It's all good!

X X X

The streets of Clow had never been a forgiving place: not to children who fell on its cobbled sandy surface, not to women flung into the heat by families or husbands, not to the urchins that lived in the gutter. The desert nights were freezing cold and the sun boiled blood in veins during the day. It was not a pleasant place if you didn't have a roof over your head, but Clow's people were kind and happy. Clow's ruler, Prince Li Syaoran, was also as kind and gentle as his people. He often walked the streets, trying to help wherever he could and offering assistance to anyone who needed it. He was a good man and would have smoothed the hardness of Clow's streets if he knew what was wrong, but the urchins in the gutter kept themselves scarce whenever he was strolling through the city. They didn't know him and assumed they would be carted off to a dark dungeon somewhere for tarnishing Clow's appearance.

It was on such a day when Prince Syaoran was walking through Clow that our tale first begins, but not with him…

This tale begins with the abuse of a street urchin called simply _Sakura._

Sakura had lived on the streets of Clow since she was seven, abandoned by her mother and father and completely alone. She managed to survive by begging, eating out of the trash, and sometimes being given a meal by one of Clow's kind and observant citizens, but no one ever took her in. She wandered the streets for nine years, living in a ragged black coat and carrying everything she had in a worn knapsack. Life wasn't good and it wasn't easy, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

A friend of hers, a beautiful girl who called herself _Chi_ with long platinum blonde hair, had been scooped up by a man just last week. Only Hell knew what he was doing to her in the confines of his lavish home when no one was watching, but at least Chi would be warm and fed. That was more than Sakura could say for herself.

Sakura sneaked around behind the houses, through the alleys and sewers that only other urchins knew of. The prince would be paying a visit to Clow's unforgiving cobblestone street today, so Sakura and every other urchin would be lying low until he was gone. She shimmied through a cut fence, scratching her face and catching her coat on the sharp metal, but it didn't really matter. The little scrapes wouldn't be seen under the filth that coated her skin.

"Oi! _Xing-Huo,_ where are you?" Sakura hissed once she reached the place where her little group of urchins always met. Slinking through the back alleys always called for strength in numbers lest one of the gangs catch you alone and unawares. Girls, especially at the tender age of sixteen or so, were the gangs' favorite prey.

Xing-Huo, Chi, Sakura, and Tomoyo always stayed together on days where Prince Syaoran walked the streets, but now Chi was gone. It was just Xing-Huo, Sakura, and Tomoyo now.

Tomoyo was a rough and tumble girl having been born on the streets to a broken family of five consisting of her exhausted mother, three brothers, and drunken father. Her father often beat her mother and, after he had struck her several times and nearly raped her, Tomoyo decided she could stay in her home no longer. She and her brothers split like a ripe banana and hadn't returned home since. Tomoyo was small and thin and cynical. She hated the world, frowned upon it with her red mouth and blue-grey eyes. Her hair was long and fine and as dark as silk, but she wore it in a ratty braid to keep it from growing matted. She was pretty, not Chi's gentle soft beauty, but pretty enough to attract too much attention from men. She had been pregnant twice already, and not by her own will, but had given up the babies for adoption. She couldn't support them and couldn't bear to kill them or leave them to die. Maybe Tomoyo had suffered the most.

Xing-Huo may have been better off. She, at least, had a father, but Fei-Wang was as big as he was mean. He often came looking for Xing-Huo, but she would never return home to his lighted bedroom and video cameras. (Fei-Wang dabbled in amateur pornography.) Like Tomoyo, Xing-Huo was pretty enough to star in Fei-Wang's home made movies, but had no wish to do so. She had long densely curled black hair and big innocent purple eyes and a soft voice. She still searched for the good in the world and Tomoyo often hated her for that. Chi had shared Xing-Huo's trust and so Sakura was the glue that kept the girls together without killing each other. After all, the world was to dark for them to be against each other as well as the gangs.

"Sakura, there you are!" Xing-Huo practically emerged from the wall, scaring Sakura half to death. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for hours!"

Sakura smacked her arm lightly and pressed her other hand over her pounding heart. "Don't do that to me! Pop out of nowhere like that! You just took ten years off my life!"

"Then she did you a favor," Tomoyo snapped and pushed through the fence behind Sakura. "You two are such morons. Quit being so noisy! The idea is to _sneak_ around and meet _secretly_ or have you idiots forgotten that?" Then, she shuffled through the big pockets of her smoky smelling coat and produced three sandwiches and an apple. "Here, I swiped these yesterday." She handed out the sandwiches and then they all gazed at the apple. "I snagged it for Chi," she confessed. "Guess I wasn't thinking."

No one said anything, each trapped in their own horror stories of what could possibly be happening to Chi without them. She was just so good and so trusting.

Sakura took her sandwich from Tomoyo and handed the second to Xing-Huo. "Just put if back in your pocket. We can cut it up later," she said flatly without looking at her companions. "Where are we staying tonight? It's going to rain."

Xing-Huo shrugged and bit into the sandwich. "I've got a holey umbrella," she offered.

"That's a good idea. We can stay in the church," Sakura said once she had chewed and swallowed the bite of food she had in her mouth. "High priest Yukito-san won't toss us out into the rain."

Tomoyo snorted. "Are you sure about that? I saw him cleaning out the church earlier for you-know-who's visit," she grumbled pessimistically.

"You never know until you try. Come on, let's go," Xing-Huo said and wrapped up her sandwich before stuffing it into the inner pocket of her coat and shouldering her bag. Sakura did the same and followed her and, after grumbling darkly, Tomoyo did, too.

The girls slunk through the alleys like a bunch of stray cats, keeping quiet with practiced ease and keeping to the deep shadows cast by Clow's late evening setting sun. Sakura was the first to reach the bend in the alley where no speck of sunlight penetrated the darkness and, therefore, the first to be grabbed.

A gang had snuck up on them!

Tomoyo pulled out several knives and threw two of them. She wounded one man, but he wasn't the one holding Sakura so it didn't help her struggling friend. "You let her go!" She hurled another knife at one of the gang members – small cruel man called _Spider_ – who was holding Sakura several feet above the ground by her hair. He caught the knife between two fingers, twirled it, and tossed it back at Tomoyo. She dodged, but barely.

Xing-Huo screamed and struggled as another two men grabbed her by each of her arms and twisted her wrists at dangerous painful angles. Tear pricked at the backs of her eyes, but she swallowed the whimper of pure agony that wanted to escape. "To-Tomoyo," she whispered only to have her arms jerked viciously behind her back.

Spider snickered. "You girls are so cute. Do you actually think you can get away?"

Sakura thrashed, tried to kick him, but he caught her foot and twisted it in the same way Xing-Huo's arms were being twisted. He twisted so hard that her entire leg bunched up as though the bones were about to break beneath the skin. Sakura whimpered. If he broke her leg, she could consider herself dead.

"Stop!" Tomoyo shouted. "Don't you hurt her!" She made the mistake of lunging right at Spider and was caught like a fly in his web.

"Tomoyo, right?" He asked with a sneer. "And this is Xing-Huo?" He glared at her with those cruel eyes of his. "You're Fei-Wang's little slut, aren't you? I hear he has a reward out for your safe return, did you know that?"

A fire lit behind Xing-Huo's eyes and her lip pulled back over her teeth in a snarl. "Fei-Wang is a bastard! I will never return to him!"

"That's okay, don't worry. _We _will return _you,_" Spider said simply. "Boys, go easy on her. She's worth money unharmed, but these two," he paused to gaze at Sakura and Tomoyo up and down, "they're not worth anything to us. Do whatever you want!" Then, he tossed Sakura into the waiting arms of the gang.

She knew what sort of fate awaited her and Tomoyo if they managed to drag them back to wherever their lair was. On one hand, Prince Syaoran was out and about today so all of Clow was packed into the streets and they would hear her if she screamed for help, but on the other hand, they would expose themselves as street urchins. God only knew what would happen to them in a dungeon or in Prince Syaoran's possession.

Tomoyo was kicking and struggling. If given proper distraction, she would easily be able to get away. If Sakura screamed, the diversion would be set and Tomoyo could get away. There wasn't anything Sakura could do for Xing-Huo, even with a scream, but maybe Spider would scatter like a roach under too much light if people came running down the alley to see what the commotion was.

So, she made her decision, sacrificed herself for her friends – not a bad way to go.

Sakura opened her mouth and screamed as high and loud as she could.

"Shit!"

Something was shoved in her mouth, but the damage was done. She could hear footsteps racing down the alley and voices chattering to each other. The gang scattered like flies and Sakura saw Xing-Huo dash between two dumpsters to hide in the shadows. Tomoyo grabbed her under her arms and tried to haul her up, but Sakura's leg was hurt and she wouldn't be going anywhere. She knew that, so with a smile, she waved Tomoyo away. Tomoyo bit her lip, nodded once, turned, and ran.

Amazing how quickly things could just go to hell in a hand basket.

Sakura pulled the gag out and laid there in the mud like a used and broken doll. She hoped for the best and waited for the worst, as always.

People crowded around her, whispering and chattering about what was to be done. She didn't see a princely face among them, just an amber-eyed boy who peeled his shirt off to wrap it over her nudity though she didn't remember having her clothes ripped off.

"Jeez," the boy muttered. "Is she anyone's daughter or sister?"

There was a murmur and someone said, "She's a street kid."

"Shit," the boy swore and then hefted her up in his arms. Sakura couldn't help thinking that he smelled very good, clean. "Why didn't anyone tell me about this? Are there more of her?"

There was more murmuring and someone else, an old woman by the sound of it, muttered, "Yes, of course. Aren't there everywhere? Children that no one wants, that even the brothels won't accept, children from broken homes and bad situation. Street urchins, tramps, rogues, thieves."

The boy rumbled low in his chest and the people parted like the sea around him.

Sakura shifted in his arms and clutched at her leg. It hurt a good deal more than Spider's twisting should have made it. Maybe it was broken. She whimpered and pressed her hands at the place where it hurt the worst. She felt no break, but her hands came away sticky and red.

"Just hold on. I'm going to patch you up myself and then we're going to fix this mess."

Sakura's vision was swimming and then everything faded to black.

X X X

Now, most stories would decidedly skip to the place where the handsome prince saves his soon-to-be princess, but behind that glittering façade of golden sand and a kind prince, there was darkness in Clow beyond anyone's imagining, beyond anyone's worst nightmares. And into that darkness, Sakura had just unknowingly delivered herself.

She woke up in a bed which would have been nice had she not been chained to it. It was a four-poster canopy bed handsomely draped with silk and lace and the heavy velvet curtains were drawn closed. The sheets beneath her body were silk, slick and cool and soft, and the pillows behind her head were fluffy and crisp. She may have been in the palace, but she wasn't. She knew for a fact she wasn't because this décor was something she had seen only once before and was not happy to be seeing again.

It was the interior of Spider's house, his big lavishly decorated bedroom and his handsome bed.

Each of her limbs were tied to one of the four posters, keeping her legs spread and her body grievously unable to fight anything that may be coming upon her in the darkness of his murky house. It was raining outside, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing through the big bay windows that lined the room. Each flash illuminated the room, but plunged her unadjusted eyes into spots of color and light. If she screamed, no one would hear her.

Sakura shivered, wet her lips, and wriggled against the bonds that held her. Her elbow brushed some heated naked skin beside her and she froze. She had been wearing long sleeves and her coat and tight jeans and socks and boots and a heavy sweatshirt, but she could feel the sheet beneath her back and the slight draft that brushed her breasts. She worked up some spit and swallowed with some difficultly. The next crash of thunder had her ears ringing and the body beside her stirred from sleep. She found herself staring directly into Spider's big amber eyes and he grinned like the monster he was.

Sakura screamed, but no one heard her.

X X X

Sorry, Anonymous xD, if it's not quite what you were expecting, but this is what I got.

Reviews, please, or Sakura will continue to suffer in Spider's evil hands!

(Yes, that's a threat.)


	2. Failure of Kin

I'm such a fast updater! *blushes*

We'll be doing lots of skipping around since I'm sure no one wants tons of detailed scenes of Spider being disgusting. I'll do a couple and then move on.

X X X

Sakura screamed and Spider stuffed his hand in her mouth. "Now, now, girl, shut up. You're breaking my eardrums and, because of you, I lost your friends so now you're going to take their places. Understand?" Spider snapped and when he smiled, Sakura saw that he was missing one front tooth. "I _own _you, comprende?"

Xing-Huo and Tomoyo got away. Well, she would have to be content with that.

What was better than dying for someone who meant a lot to you? Dying to save your friends?

Something must have shown on her face because Spider snickered.

"Oh, no, I'm not going to kill you, _Sakura-chan._ You see, every month, I get a girl from the street, maybe one prettier than you or a little more mature." He paused and pinched one on her raised nipples between his fingers. Sakura whimpered as he rolled the sensitive bud between his ragged nails and finally released it with a snap. "This is how I make enough money to keep this house. I whore out, well, little whores," and then he laughed like he had just made a very good joke.

Sakura wanted to spit in his face, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know what the consequences were. Some things were worse than death and she didn't mean purgatory.

Spider flopped back and put his arms behind his head. He stank of body odor and Sakura felt bile rising in the back of her throat. "This is probably the most you'll ever be worth in your miserable life, so cheer up. Thanks to you, I get to keep my house and your friends escaped me. Everybody wins, well, everyone except you," he said and laughed some more. He rolled over and laid his rough palm on her narrow chest. A rush of disgust coursed through her blood, but he ignored the prickling of goose bumps that rose on her skin. Spider squeezed her nipple painfully hard, twisting it as he had done to her leg. "Tell me,  
Sakura-chan, are you a virgin?"

She felt her face heating up and was disgusted with herself. She was lying naked in Spider's bed, about to be raped, and he was pinching her nipples so hard and here she was blushing because he asked if she was a virgin. That was pathetic! She turned to her head to ignore him, but listened as the sheets rustled and shifted beside her.

_Just ignore it, Sakura,_ she told herself sternly. _Just ignore him. Whatever he does, just push it from your mind._

Spider chuckled and then something wet and slimy raked over her nipple. She let out a startled squeak and jerked her shoulder against the feeling, but to no avail. Spider just held her down. He drew the bud between his teeth and rolled it, licking and sucking as he did so. Sakura was whimpering and thrashing against his assault.

It couldn't have been any more obvious if she had it stamped on her forehead:

_Virgin!_

Spider chuckled again and bit down hard, twisting the sensitive bud between his big square teeth until he tasted a bit of coppery blood. Then, he suckled like a babe.

"S-stop!" Sakura begged and jerked her body against the sheets, writhing like a worm. It hurt so badly, but she was enjoying it. The feel of his hot mouth around her sensitive pearl, suckling and nibbling. It was too much and she felt like she was betraying herself. "Stop it!"

Spider drew back and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "Fine. You're first _customer _is due to arrive any minute now," Spider said as he pulled on his jeans and a clean shirt. "I'll have to up the price since he'll be fucking a _virgin._"

Sakura's blood ran cold. "How did you know?" She whispered.

"Honey, when you've been in the business as long as I have, you can just tell," Spider said and left the room. The door slammed shut so loudly that Sakura felt it in her chest.

Again, she tested the bonds that held her, but the handcuffs were unbreakable without some serious manpower and she didn't have any of that. So, she licked her lips and steeled herself against anything that might happen to her. She was losing her first time, her virginity to a man she didn't love or even _know_, but it was a small price to pay to save her best friends. As a new man slipped into the room, she thought of Chi and prayed the gentle girl was doing better than she was.

X X X

Sakura had been here, chained to Spider's bed for almost two weeks. He let her up twice a day to use the bathroom and shower and eat a coarse meal of usually burned eggs and something else that had been liquefied and she didn't really care to think about what was in it. She was eating better here in Hell than she did on the streets. But there was a constant ache between her legs and deep inside her womb and in her tender breasts and in her abused asshole. _Her secret places weren't secrets anymore._ Spider had left her alone most of today, coming in early that morning to fuck her as he always did, hard and fast, bent over doggy-style with her ass in the air. Then, he left her to rest. Apparently she was going to be part of a threesome later today and he wanted her to rest.

The door opened and Spider began to light candles all around the room because it hid the bruises on her skin better than electric lights. He left and the door opened again to reveal two men.

_Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear._

Sakura chewed her lip and tried to relax her muscles. It only hurt worse if she was tense.

"Alright, you two, have fun. You have an hour with my prized slut. All holes are fuck-able, do whatever you want to her as long as she doesn't rip or die," Spider said lamely and Sakura heard the jingle of keys as he tossed them to one of the men. "I'll lock the door from the outside so don't worry about her getting loose, just chain her back up when you're done."

The men grunted, but Sakura could feel their eyes burning through her. She squeezed her eyes shut, listening hard for the lock of the door. One man leaned over her.

"So you're Sakura, eh? My name is Moe and this is Larry, not that it matters."

They laughed and then Sakura heard their clothes hit the floor somewhere in the room. They pulled down the drapes and then unlocked the handcuffs. She wanted to run, but where would she go? The door was locked and the windows were barred. She took a deep breath and let her body go limp. Moe and Larry stood up on the bed and sandwiched her between then. Moe's big wet dick forced its way inside her and Larry's cock, which felt rather hairy, pressed up into her ass. She whimpered, dug her nails into Moe's shoulders, and they pushed in hard very suddenly. She had never been taken by two men at the same time and the two big foreign objects in both of her entrances felt as if her body was going to split in half at the seams.

"Ooh, Moe, is she as tight up there as she is back here?"

Moe's response was just a mass of groaning for a moment and then he grunted out, "Yeah, so tight, but my cock doesn't fit inside all the way."

Sakura tensed fearfully and they both groaned in bliss.

"Well, you heard Spider," Larry mumbled. "Just push in as hard as you want. I'm sure she'll take you if you force her."

"N-no," Sakura whispered. "Please, don't!"

"Don't worry, little lady, it won't hurt," Moe said and dug his fat fingers into her hips.

"Much," Larry said.

Then, Moe held her hip down and began to push. She felt the tip of him pressing at the entrance of her womb, pushing, pushing. She screamed and struggled, but Larry slipped two fingers into her asshole and pulled the tender muscles wider. Tears coursed down her cheeks and ran down her chest. Moe was still shoving, forcing, stretching, and then she felt it. Something inside tore viciously and he slammed up into her womb. His pubic hair tickled her sensitive clit, prickled. They began to thrust in the same rhythm, relieving her off all pain when they both pulled out and then tearing her apart when they both pushed back in. Then, they switched, going one after the other: Monroe in, Larry out.

Sakura was sobbing, crying. She beat her fists weakly on Moe's face, but he ignored her and continued to rip her womb apart with each thrust, exiting and brutally re-entering. She thought she smelled blood, but the scent of sex was to strong in the air. They came, cream spurting around Moe's cock from her abused pussy. She had no fear of growing pregnant, her womb was probably destroyed.

Moe and Larry shifted.

Moe pulled out, hefted her crotch up higher so her could force his dick into her ass along with Larry. She was stretched so wide, so tight and painful. She couldn't stop crying and they thrusted into her. She felt the beat of their cocks in the front of her stomach, pressing against her organs deep inside. She felt sick. Then, they came, shooting more thick white cream into her.

They shifted again, both fucking her pussy at the same time. The two dicks tore her womb so greatly that it peeked out of her pussy when the pulled out. Then, they tossed her, used and abused, on the bed and she had never been so happy to be chained again. She curled up around herself and blissfully listened to their retreating footsteps. Then, the pain and humiliation overwhelmed her. She broke down and cried herself to sleep for the first time since Spider had taken her.

X X X

As it was, she would be graced with one more customer: her own brother, Touya.

She was unconscious when he arrived, but he took her anyway. She woke to him pounding into her, striking the raw entrance of her womb with each thrust. He was grunting like a hog, mumbling some girl's name, but his voice was so familiar that she couldn't help herself.

"Touya?"

He stopped, the jerk of his thrust had forced his penis up into her womb and she screamed at the pain.

It only took a moment for him to recognize her and then he exploded back from the bed as if she had suddenly burned him. He tore her womb out to peek between her nether lips as Moe and Larry had and she whimpered in agony.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Touya leaned low over her. "Sakura?"

She could only nod and sob harder.

He swore again and carefully pressed her womb back inside her with one knuckle. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He scooped her up, dressed her in his shirt and kicked open the barred window. "Don't worry, I'll save you," he whispered.

Desert sunlight was streaming in through the window and the streets were bustling below. For one terrifying moment, Sakura thought her was going to save her by throwing her down into the streets below, but that didn't sound like a bad idea at the time. Touya slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and stepped out onto the sill. Then, he clambered up onto the roof, carrying her until they were at the palace walls looking down into the gardens.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry. There's no better place for you. Forgive me for what I've done to you," Touya whispered. He kissed her forehead, but she whimpered in fear. Sickened, Touya tossed her over the palace wall.

She landed hard on the ground with a thump that shook the cobwebs from her brain. She was free from Spider, but she hurt so badly. She would rather be dead. Touya, her own brother, had fucked her. Her womb had been ripped out. Every secret womanly place ached as if it had been ripped apart and they had been, but her friends were safe. She had that at least.

Someone was running up to her, feet pounding down the marble steps of the palace and shouting. She rolled over and tried to crawl away, but whoever it was caught her. Her body was hefted up into warm arms, but she saw amber and knew that Spider had her again.

X X X

Yes, I know! Poor Sakura! I'm a horrible person! Where's Syaoran? Blah, blah, blah!

Flames will be deleted and then used to roast marshmallows. So there!

Fear not, life will begin to look up for our dear Sakura. All of that torture was necessary to be used in later chapters.


	3. Game to Fix

Okay…

Well, no good news to report!

*runs away*

Oh, everybody should check out this video:

Tsubasa Crack – The Simpsons!

Here's the link: .com/watch?v=4M7wDIVxj00

Copy and paste!

It's so awesome!

X X X

Sakura woke up in a bed and her entire body tensed in fear. But, the bed wasn't Spider's lavish four-poster monster. This one was low and plain, not a canopy hung with lace and velvet, but it was made with plain black silk sheets. That worried her a little, but she continued to look around the room. The floor was covered in thick cream colored carpet and she spied and attached bathroom in all shaded of blue and grey next to an open walk-in closet. The closet was filled with normal looking clothes: beige pants and black shirts and two pairs of muddy boots. At the very back, she glimpsed what looked like a suit, but her eyes were swimming and she couldn't quite make it out. The room was scarcely furnished with only the bed, a dresser, and two wooden chairs with exquisitely carved backs. There was a worn green cloak tossed carelessly over one of the chairs and what looked like crown on the dresser. Needless to say, Sakura had no idea what sort of place she was in.

She walked herself backwards.

Okay, her brother Touya was the last thing she remembered. After that, everything grew a little hazy, but Moe and Larry were incredibly clear. She felt sick, but her stomach was empty. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm her racing heart. Right, Touya had dropped her over the wall, into the palace gardens, and she remembered seeing amber eyes. After that, there was nothing but absolute blackness.

She sat up and someone put a long-fingered hand on her shoulder. "No, no," a soft voice said. "Don't get up. Just rest, lay still."

Sakura turned her head and found herself staring into amber eyes that most certainly were not set in Spider's ugly face. The young man was slender, not starving thin like she was, but slim. His limbs were long and graceful and sun-kissed. He had long tousled chocolate hair that hung in his eyes a bit. He was handsome, she couldn't deny that, but his eyes captivated her the longest. They weren't quite Spider's same amber, but softer, more honey colored. She blinked blearily at him.

"Who are you?" She croaked. "Where am I?"

He smiled, sat down on the edge of the bed so that the mattress shifted under his weight, slipped one arm behind her head, and buoyed her up into his lap. He picked up a goblet of fine crystal and held it to her lips. "Drink this," he offered and held the stem of the glass in his fingers in a practiced way.

She craned her neck to stare suspiciously at him. Did he work for Spider or was she really safe?

"It's only water," he said and his eyes were so honest that she had to believe him and sipped gingerly. The water was cool and soothed her burning throat better than any medicine.

"Who are you?" She asked and was pleased to find that her voice sounded much better, though still hoarse and soft so that she felt as if she was shouting.

"My name is Syaoran and you are in the palace, in my chambers," he told her gently and rubbed one hand up and down her arm.

She bristled all over, muscles clenching painfully. She whimpered and tried to wrestle away from him, but he was strong and his arms held her against him with indisputable force. She couldn't have escaped him if she wasn't hurting and violated and starving.

"Don't worry. You are safe here," he murmured against her hair and she was almost comforted by the thrum of his voice in his narrow chest. "Please, tell me who did this to you so that I may rectify the situation."

Sakura screamed. She couldn't think of any words to accurately describe her horror and fear. She just screamed and screamed; one long anguished wail of pure agony. By the time she realized that she was screaming, it was too late to stop. She expected this young man to strike her across her face, vicious and annoyed, but the young man didn't do anything of the sort. He turned her around to face him and drew her gently against his chest, cradling her like a child and let her scream until her voice just died out. Panting and sobbing, Sakura gripped the front of his shirt with both hands and clung to him as if he was the piece of driftwood and she was lost at sea.

"Shush, shush," he crooned gently and rubbed her back. "It's alright. You're safe here. Shush, shush."

Sakura nuzzled into his chest, breathing the scent of him which was clean and soft. Spider's cruel eyes and clean scent slashed through her chest like a stab of ice. She shoved against him with all the strength in her body and he released her in shock. Sakura rolled over, curled up in fetal position, and sobbed into her legs.

"Please, please, don't hurt me, anymore."

This had to be a trick. She must still be chained to Spider's bed, waiting with her legs spread and her secrets exposed. This wasn't really happening!

She coiled around herself and sobbed. That young man with Spider's amber eyes in his handsome face touched her shoulder. She thought the pain at his soft warm touch was enough to make her bleed. She whimpered and whispered weakly, "Please, don't hurt me again. Please, stop, please."

"Jeez," she heard the young man mutter and then he cast a warm blanket over her body. She heard his retreating footsteps, the door opened, shut, and then his footsteps faded down the hall.

Sakura kicked the blanket off. It smelled like Spider and sobbed into her hands.

_This is just a trick,_ she told herself. _Sleep and it will all be over._

X X X

Syaoran stalked down the hallway. His stomach was doing unpleasant little flips in his chest, tying itself into knots. Whoever had tortured that girl into such a state of terror and agony deserved to suffer a thousand times over what she had been through. The nurse who had cleaned her up said her womb had recently been forced into, pulled out, and pushed back in several times. She would never have children no matter how hard she tried or how badly she wanted them. Her anus had been stretched violently and her ass was filled with semen. Her breasts were bruised. All of her injuries were sexual. Someone had been raping this girl for god knew how long and Syaoran wanted to punish whoever had.

He stormed into the ballroom and shouted at nothing in particular.

His personal bodyguards – Ryuo and Yuzuriha with her dog, Inuki – were the only ones _not_ to pay him any mind. They were used to him acting a little crazy, but all the servants weren't. They scattered like mice. Most went to hide in the kitchen and the rest scooted outside. Just like that, the ballroom was empty.

"What's the problem now, Syaoran-kun?" Ryuo asked as he jumped one of Yuzuriha's checkers and removed it from the board.

"Hey! No fair," she shouted, but coyly double jumped him. "There, now we're even." She tucked a strand of short dark hair behind her ear and stroked Inuki's head. The dog made a sound that was suspiciously close to a snort and settled his head on his folded paws.

Syaoran threw himself into his throne, but didn't stay there long. He got up and paced the length of the table where Yuzuriha and Ryuo were calmly playing checkers like this sort of thing happened every day. "I can't believe it!" Syaoran shouted more to himself than to his guards. "That girl is completely terrified! Who could do such a thing to another human being?"

"Someone evil," Ryuo muttered and moved forward into an open space of Yuzuriha's. "King me."

"Or sick in the head," Yuzuriha supplied and reluctantly flipped Ryuo's piece onto one of her own to make a towering king. "Can't we play something else?"

"You're just mad because you're losing for once, but it's good for you," Ryuo teased and jumped another one of her pieces.

"How can you two be so calm?" Syaoran shouted in Ryuo's ear, knocking the young man out of his chair and giving Yuzuriha that perfect opportunity to cheat (which she took by sweeping a few of his kings off the board).

"Syaoran-kun," Yuzuriha interjected gently and grasped his shoulder. She made him some space on her chair and urged him to sit beside her with her arm around his narrow waist. "Listen, there isn't much use in worrying or working yourself up into a panic. She needs calm and a careful hand. She's obviously pretty beat up and scared, so move slowly and speak in a soft voice and she'll come around. If you get worked up and yell, she'll just clam up and then where will you be?" Yuzuriha explained and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Just give it time."

"But, Yuzuriha-chan, I don't _have_ time. While I'm waiting for her to talk to me, the guys who did that to her could jump ship, flee to another country, or worse. What if they pick up another innocent girl? I have to stop them!" Syaoran said and rubbed his face with his hands.

"Syaoran-kun, you're going to be king soon. Try to relax a little," Ryuo suggested as he clambered back into his chair.

"I can't relax!" Syaoran shouted, knocking Ryuo from his chair again. This time, the young man just crossed his legs and sat on the cool marble floor. He'd let Yuzuriha handle this one.

"Syaoran-kun," Yuzuriha said gently. "Why don't you just sit at her bedside?"

"She screams when I touch her…"

"So don't touch her, just sit in a chair next to her. Let her know you're there for her and you don't mean any harm, okay?" She watched his amber eyes flit from side to side and his throat worked furiously. "Syaoran-kun, you're not helping anyone by freaking out."

He sighed heavily and laced his fingers together in his lap. "I've just… I've never felt so powerless. I can't do anything to help her or stop whoever was hurting her so badly," he swallowed. "I just want to stop it like I do everything else."

"You can't always get instantaneous results, Syaoran-kun," Yuzuriha pointed out and waved a checker in front of his nose. "Take checkers for instance, you can't instantly win. You have to play the game until it gets down to the nitty-gritty and then stomp your opponent mercilessly underfoot."

Syaoran sighed and plucked the checker from between her thin fingers. After surveying it for a moment, he flung it across the room.

Yuzuriha giggled. "See, now you have to walk all the way over there to stomp that opponent," she told him gently and gave his waist a comforting squeeze. "So, what have we learned?"

"Checkers stinks," Syaoran said flatly.

Yuzuriha burst out laughing and Ryuo smacked himself in the forehead. Okay, maybe he should intervene, but Syaoran continued quietly: "And I'm going to take a walk to clear my head, calm down, and relax. When I get back, I will have a solution."

"Don't count on that last part, but have fun," Yuzuriha said and peered over the game board to look at Ryuo. "Ryuo-kun, if you're quite finished sitting on the floor, go grab that piece Syaoran-kun flung and then it's your move." She didn't cheat this time because she was watching Syaoran's retreating back as he walked outside.

"What are you thinking about, Yuzuriha-chan?" Ryuo asked as he sat down across from her.

Yuzuriha held out her hand for the piece and he tossed it into her palm. She surveyed the piece and Syaoran had, but didn't throw it. "You know, Ryuo-kun, games don't make for very good life examples," she said lightly.

"Why is that?"

Yuzuriha grabbed the board by its corners and shook all the pieces off so that they flew everywhere. "Because you can cheat," she said dryly, "and you can't cheat at life."

Ryuo rolled his eyes. "You could have just told me that instead of flinging checkers everywhere," he reminded her and leaned over to gather up a bunch of pieces.

"Yeah, but this way," she paused to grin cheekily at him, "I win!"

X X X

Syaoran strolled through the palace gardens, idly running his palms over some burgeoning blooms. He stared blankly at the darkening sky, searching out constellations he knew by heart. The night air was growing chilly and a slight wind was beginning to howl through the turrets and eaves of the palace.

He thought of the girl.

He didn't even know her name.

_Flashback:_

_He was talking with one of the watchmen when he saw the shadow appear on the wall. There was a man holding a naked girl in his arms and he was whispering to her. Syaoran's sentence trailed off as he diverted all of his attention to watching them._

_What was going on?_

_Then, the man looked at the sun and tears glistened on his face like misplaced jewels. There was a bulge in the man's unbuttoned trousers and something white was trailing down the girl's inner thigh. _

_Syaoran was running toward them, down the marble steps of the palace, before he really even knew what he was doing. He couldn't even find the words to tell them to halt._

_Then, the man dropped the girl. He simply dropped her and she fell like a stone. Her body bounced on the sandy soil and the shirt she was sort-of wearing rode up over her thighs. Syaoran saw blood and bruises on her crème colored skin. She rolled over by some miraculous feat of strength or will and tried to crawl, but he was already at her side by that time. _

_He shouted for some guards to chase after that man, but he later found that they turned up nothing._

_His focus was on that girl now. He rolled her over, pulling that shirt down decently and lifting her in his arms. She moaned and shifted, not quite relishing the warmth his body provided but not pushing away as he had expected. It appeared purely reflex that had her relaxing in his arms which were certainly softer than the unforgiving ground. Her skin was chilled to the touch, had been beaten black and blue, and was slick with sweat. She shifted against him, resting her cheek on his chest and then her eyes cracked open to look at him. Her gaze was unfocused but he had never seen such beautiful emerald eyes in his life. He was about to speak, but she made eye contact with him and then her entire body stiffened with alarm. He abruptly snapped his mouth shut, but he didn't need to because dark unconsciousness took her with greedy hands._

_He scooped her up, cradled her to him, and carried her into the palace. She was hauntingly light, feather-light, as if she had been starved to skin and bones. The infirmary was empty, which was strange because Yuzuriha had beat Ryuo to a pulp earlier and Syaoran had expected the guard to still be wallowing, but it was just as good that he was gone. _

"_Hiruka-sensei!" He called and tried to keep the panic from his voice as he laid the girl's limp body on a bed._

_The kind elderly doctor emerged from behind a curtain with a vase of herbs. "Syaoran-sama? Is something wrong? You appear distressed," she said gently._

_Syaoran just kind of waved at the girl, desperate and rattled. _

_Hiruka shoved the vase into his hands and quickly stooped over the girl. She ventured one hand between her legs, spread them gently, and trailed one finger through the girl's wet folds. Syaoran averted his eyes, looking only when she called for his attention in a quiet stricken voice. "Syaoran-sama, if you tell me you did this, then so help me, I do not care if you are a prince…" She trailed off and he chanced a glance at her fingers. They were sticky with blood and something else he didn't want to think about. He looked quickly away again. _

"_No, Hiruka-sensei, you know me," he protested but his voice was weak. If it had been anyone but Hiruka, who had known him since he was a child and knew he was good and honest, they would have thought he was lying._

"_She's been practically torn apart. You," she pointed as if he didn't know she was talking to him, "need to leave. This is not for your eyes!" And then she shooed him from the infirmary. "Stay there in case I require anything that I do not have on hand."_

"_Yes, of course."_

_And so he waited, pacing back and forth in front of the curtain until Hiruka said that she was finished and allowed him in once more. The girl had been dressed in a fresh shirt and Hiruka had cleaned her up. She was lying like a princess on the bed, pale and shivering with her hands folded neatly on her chest. _

_She looked like a corpse, a beautiful corpse._

_Her skin was creamy and smooth under the filth and bruises that covered her. Her hair was short and sloppily cut, but a shimmering caramel color and he still remembered her beautiful emerald eyes. Her features were delicate, perfect, like those of a China doll. Her lips were full and pink, but swollen from brutal kisses, and her eyes were puffy from crying._

"_Take her up to your room, Syaoran-sama. Wait for her to wake up and if she does not do so in a few hours, come get me," Hiruka ordered._

_Syaoran nodded and lifted her gently in his long arms. She moaned and shifted, straining away from him as if he were burning her._

"_Gently, gently, now. She's hurting far more than you could even want to imagine. Tuck her in and make sure she's warm," Hiruka ordered. She held the gauzy bluish curtain aside for him and then opened the door. "Be careful with her when she wakes. Don't give her anything except water!"_

_He brought her to his room, ignoring the strange looks the servants gave him. He was seventeen and had brought girls back to the palace a few times even a few loose princesses from other countries after parties and banquets, but he had never carried them. Not even if they were dead asleep or dead drunk, he just kind of guided them down the hall. The girl nuzzled against his chest, inhaled, and then tensed. He whispered soothing words in her ear and she relaxed slowly again._

_Okay, so she didn't like his eyes or his scent. Strange…_

_They usually brought him the most attention from ladies._

_He laid her in his bed, covering her with the black silk sheets as decently as he could without touching her too much and then cast a warm heavy blanket over her. He had never thought that someone looked so perfect in his bed. She looked as if she belonged there more than any princess or village pauper. _

_He settled in a chair at the side of the bed and watched her sleep. The steady rise and fall of her chest, the crystals that occasionally leaked beneath her lids, the small moans and whimpers that escaped her swollen lips. He wanted her to wake up, open those eyes of hers and look at him. Finally, she stirred._

_End flashback. _

He didn't know what this girl meant to him or why a little shard of his heart seemed to have broken when he thought of what had obviously happened to her. He wanted to protect her, to hurt those people that had hurt her. She played chords in his heart that he had thought broke after his mother's death.

It was late, so he turned to go back into the palace, but not before picking a single shimmering violet and bringing it inside for her.

X X X

Alright!

Check out: Tsubasa Crack – The Simpsons!

You won't regret it!

Well, Anonymous XD, is this not quite what you had in mind? Or am I doing well?

Everybody else, review or else…hmm… I don't know quite yet, but I'll torture someone!


	4. Strands in the Web

Alright, Janec Shannon, you'll have to wait to see how Sakura wound up in Spider's house the first time. (It's not important yet!) But here's the low-down on how Touya wound up screwing his sister.

It's not going to be pretty. X_X

Since I killed Touya before, he'll have a nice big role in this story. ^_^

X X X

Touya slunk through the black alleys of Clow, cursing himself and his stupidity. He kicked a trash can and the shining lid bounced ahead of him like a sliver of the moon. The stars leered down at him, showing him Sakura's favorite constellations and mocking the time he had spent pointing them out to her.

He had been helping Spider kidnap street girls and wrangle them as prostitutes until they were finally killed for years since the death of his and Sakura's parents. He had never once thought that the girls he captured might have had families, friends, brothers… He just caught them and roped them up. The deal between him and Spider was that he either caught them or he fucked and finally killed them. He never would have let Spider get his slimy hands on Sakura, but Touya had been out of the area with some new rookies. Initiation was hell, as usual, but the deal still stood. He didn't catch the girl so he had to kill her and toss her body in the desert.

Bile rose up in his throat and he was sick against the wall of the alley.

Sakura was his _sister_.

His _only_ family left.

And he had…

Cold sweat bathed the back of his neck and his chest heaved.

Spider would surely have his head on a stake for not killing her. Worse yet, by tossing Sakura into the palace, where she was guaranteed medical attention and a safe haven, he had exposed Spider's racket. Unless, of course, Sakura didn't talk about what had happened.

Spider had caught her once before, but she had escaped on her own with the help of a girl named Tomoyo. She knew names and faces, secret locations and meeting places. She could tear Spider's racket apart at the seams, scattering the gang like the bugs they were, and if she gave that information to someone with power say _Prince Syaoran_… well…

Spider was as good as squashed.

Touya wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and headed to the bar. Maybe a cold drink would clear the bile from his mouth and his heart, but he really doubted that. Even as she stepped out onto one of Clow's bustling street, he continued to feel sick on his deepest level.

His pants were still tight and uncomfortable and slightly sticky, but he considered it punishment and relished it. He deserved worse for hurting _Sakura_, his _sister_.

The bar was hazy with smoke and loud. There were people shooting pool in the corner, a few drunken girls hanging off of guys, and the bartender was fat and had a booming voice that silence fights before they even began. It was hot inside from body heat, but Touya was glad for the heat on his clammy skin. The pulse of some old music beat against his sternum like a second heart, rattling him and forcing his blood to race which did nothing to calm the bugle in his jeans. He kind of waddled to the bar and a few guys gave him knowing looks of pity, but he ignored them

They didn't know the half of it.

The shame of being left by a girl halfway through it was nothing compared to the shame of violating his _sister_.

Touya was shocked to see the high priest sitting on a stool at the end of the bar with w green bottle between his long pale fingers. He thought for a moment that maybe he was _mistaken_, but those white robes were _unmistakable_. Yukito had once been a friend of his, but he doubted the priest would recognize him as he was now with his tattoos and piercings. Touya sat down next to his old friend and ordered a shot of whiskey to burn his stomach and throat.

Touya gulped it without really tasting it and ordered another.

Yukito was looking at him from behind the rims of his glasses. His blue eyes were troubled, but Touya ignored him. The priest was turned the bottle around and around in his long slender fingers. Beads of moisture ran down the bottle and gathered in a growing ring around the base. Touya had downed four shots of whiskey by the time Yukito spoke in that soft voice of his.

"Is something troubling you, old friend?"

Touya dropped the shot glass with a clatter, spilling whiskey across the polished surface of the bar. The bartender scowled at him, but wiped it up with a dirty rag before it could run everywhere and refilled the glass. Touya mumbled and apology and then spoke out of the corner of his mouth to Yukito.

"You knew it was me?" Touya mumbled.

"Of course, old friend." Yukito's eyes crinkled at the corners and he took a sip from his bottle.

"How…?" Touya croaked.

"I saw it in a dream," Yukito said simply.

Touya's blood ran cold and he forced out, "Did you see anything else?"

Yukito looked at Touya over his glasses and there was a fire burning way back in his sparkling blue eyes. He nodded once and said only one word: _Sakura-chan_. It would mean nothing to anyone else, but his sister's name cut Touya to the core and crushed his heart into an un-beating lump in his chest.

"I-I," he stuttered, "I didn't k-know it was her-r."

Yukito took another sip of his beer, but hesitated to swallow the alcohol. "That does not make it right or excusable," the priest said bitterly.

Touya swallowed thickly and pushed the shot of whiskey away with the tip of one finger. "I am going to make it better," he promised, but it sounded weak.

Yukito sensed the weakness as well and ignored Touya's declaration. "Do you know what else I saw in my dream?" He asked vaguely.

Touya shook his head, staring at his tattooed hands. He took of a skull ring and flicked it across the bar.

"I saw a man they call _Spider_ on the streets and four girls: Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan, Xing-Huo-chan, and Chi-chan. The girls are each pursued by a different monster: Sakura-chan and Spider; Tomoyo-chan and her brother, Marcus; Xing-Huo-chan and her father, Fei-Wang; Chi-chan and a man whose name I did not catch. The girls will suffer unless and until they find their guardian: Sakura-chan's is Syaoran-sama," Yukito paused to gaze seriously at Touya. "Xing-Huo-chan and a young man I have not met named Kamui-san; Chi-chan and a magician named Fai D. Fluorite; Tomoyo-chan's is a brute called Kurogane. You are to play a large role in the events that are to come. You are the one person who can actively bring the girls and the guardians together. You must decide what you are going to do with your future, their future." Yukito drained his beer in one gulp and rose from the bar. _"A war is coming,"_ he said shortly and walked away.

Touya stared at the moisture as it ran down the sides of the green glass bottle to pool in the ring at the base.

Yukito had been here and waiting, just for him, to tell him that.

Touya pushed Sakura's twisted anguished face from his mind and rose from the bar as well. He had unknowingly delivered Sakura into the arms of her guardian, but somewhere in Clow… people were suffering and he was the only one who could help them. He had to find these girls and their guardians and bring them together. He would have to leave Sakura for now. She would be fine. She was strong. After all she had survived nine years without parents or family. Hell, the worst part of her life was when her last remaining family member arrived.

Touya took a deep breath and stepped out into the night.

X X X

There you have it, Janec Shannon, the dark truth about Touya and Spider. It's short because I might not have the laptop for a while, but this should hold everyone over until I return.

Reviews please or else we'll have some suffering.

Send questions, comments, and concerns.

Thank you.


	5. Weathered Friends

I'm so sorry, everybody, but I had to revise the first few chapters a little. Fear not, you don't have to reread everything!

**These are the changes:**

I have deleted Evra and replaced her with Tomoyo. Therefore, Touya is not her guardian anymore. Kurogane is.

Touya is not a guardian. He is the only person who can find the girls and their guardians and bring them together.

Spider has been shrunk. Think of him as being Syaoran-sized.

**These are the new guardians and bad guys:**

Sakura and Syaoran versus Spider.

Chi and Fai versus Ashura-ou.

Xing-Huo and Kamui versus Fei-Wang.

Tomoyo and Kurogane versus Marcus.

Okay. That's it. Sorry for any confusion, but I'll iron it out in further chapters.

X X X

Spider had sent Touya up to kill Sakura.

He had his own dream-seer and knew of the battles that were to come. He knew everything about the girls, but he was sure one skinny little street kid couldn't cause him any trouble when he destroyed Prince Syaoran and took over Clow.

He lounged back against his wing-backed armchair and sipped a glass of warm Scotch in a state of bliss.

"Easy as pie," he murmured to himself.

He had broken and killed Sakura who was the only person who could stop him. Syaoran would now stand powerless before him, as unable to save his kingdom as Sakura had been to rescue herself from his advances. The only thing that could possibly even throw a wrench in his well-oiled plan was the fact that Xing-Huo and Tomoyo were still out there running amuck on Clow's unforgiving streets. Even so,  
Ashura-ou had Chi in his possession.

Spider had on other thing going for him: he was a magician, not as powerful as Chi's guardian, Fai D. Fluorite, but strong enough to have a few spectacular tricks up his grimy sleeve.

He could change his appearance. The only things he couldn't mask were his eyes no matter what form her took. They always remained startling amber, but thankfully Prince Syaoran's eyes were also amber and being the prince was a perfect guise. He couldn't keep it up long though, because the prince's guards were also his best friends and often spotted the sneaky and strange behavior of the fake prince before Spider could do any real harm in the palace.

He wrinkled his nose.

There was some commotion outside, but he ignored it. Nothing could ruin his plans now.

Sakura would die.

Prince Syaoran would fall.

Spider would rule Clow.

It was as simple as that.

Spider finished off his Scotch and decided to stroll leisurely along the street, with how good his luck had been lately, he would probably stumble right across Tomoyo or Xing-Huo. He shrugged into his jacket and pulled on some worn boots and slipped into the darkness of an alley.

X X X

Tomoyo wrung her braid over her shoulder, which was something she did when she was concerned about something and she _was _getting very worried. Night was falling quickly over the desert, cloaking everything in surreal bluish shades of twilight. Even her dirty skin appeared to be glowing white in the shades of dusk, but even with this dream-like quality everything had taken on, she was worried.

She couldn't find Xing-Huo or Sakura anywhere and she had been looking for hours! She had gone to their usual meeting places – a small hole-in-the-wall café called Cat's Eye, and under the bridge that crossed the wash, and even to the garbage heaps. None of her friends were anywhere to be found.

Tomoyo felt so very alone.

There was only one other place she could look where her friends might possibly be hiding: huddled near the gates of the palace. Xing-Huo and Chi had chosen that place because they loved to look into the palace for hours, dreaming that someday their lives would get better. Tomoyo secretly longed for such pipe-dreams, but she had been exposed to the horror of the real world at a very young age, just like Sakura and so she scorned such hope. But, right now, she would have given her right arm just to have one of her friends at her side again.

She adjusted her rucksack and set off at a brisk pace for the palace.

The outer wall was just coming into view when she saw a silhouette sneaking across the rooftops. Puzzled, she paused to watch as it leaped down onto the wall. It was a man, she realized, with someone in his arms, someone naked and terrifyingly familiar. The man stooped down and whispered something and then tossed the body over the wall. As it fell, Tomoyo saw pale hair and jade green eyes.

"Sakura!" She screamed.

The silhouette whipped its head around and then leaped back onto the roofs. The man fled like a ghost, vanishing from sight before Tomoyo could discern if she knew the person who had just tossed Sakura into the palace, but all she glimpsed was dark hair and tattoo of wings on the man's gaunt cheek. That was enough, she would know him if she saw him again.

Xing-Huo darted from the alley behind her and crushed Tomoyo in a hug.

"Tomoyo! I thought I'd never see you again!" Xing-Huo wailed.

"I just saw Sakura," Tomoyo mumbled.

"What?"

"I just saw Sakura," she repeated. "Someone just tossed her over the palace's outer wall."

"What?"

"Xing-Huo, I know for a fact that you aren't that stupid," Tomoyo snapped irritably. "Stop making me repeat myself."

"Sakura is inside the palace! Are you sure?" Xing-Huo demanded and shook Tomoyo by her shoulders. She had never seen those purple eyes look so completely terrified.

Tomoyo wet her lips and tried to offer her friend some comfort, but she had no words to soothe the situation. "It certainly looked like her, but…"

Xing-Huo slumped down on her knees and wrapped her arms around Tomoyo's legs. He entire skinny frame shook with sobs and she gripped Tomoyo tighter. "What are we going to do? What are we going to do, Tomoyo?" She sobbed.

Tomoyo weakly patted Xing-Huo's back and helped her to her feet. "I don't really know. What can we do? It's not like we can march right into the palace and demand our friend back," she muttered but that was a close as she had come to formulating a plan as to how to proceed.

"What about Chi?" Xing-Huo sniffed and Tomoyo combed her fingers through her friend's curls.

"Xing-Huo?"

"Do you think Chi could help us?"

Tomoyo hesitated. She and Sakura had a pact not to tell hopeful sweet Xing-Huo that they had been banned from visiting Chi by the man who had taken her in. If they so much as walked down that street, that man said he would beat Chi black and red. He even threatened her innocence.

Tomoyo cleared her throat. "We can't drag Chi back into the street," was all she could manage to say.

Xing-Huo nodded weakly and stood shakily up again.

"We'll have to help Sakura on our own," Xing-Huo said finally and looked at the sky.

Tomoyo nodded and followed her friend's gaze. She saw something strange in the heavens and before she could stop herself, she said, _"A war is coming." _

"Huh?"

"_We will have to find our guardians." _

"Tomoyo, you're scaring me."

The young dream-seer shook herself to clear the clinging vestiges of her flashes from her mind. She sometimes got snippets of the future even while awake, but she only told Sakura about them. Neither Chi nor Xing-Huo knew about her preternatural powers.

_Guardians, _she thought to herself as she allowed Xing-Huo to hold her hand for comfort. _What war?_

X X X

Chi gazed out the window of her second floor bedroom. She couldn't say Ashura-ou wasn't treating her well, but something about him unnerved her. Something wasn't right about the way he gazed at her, looked her over as though she were a suckling pig laid out for supper on his glossy table. She always wished Sakura and Xing-Huo and even grumpy Tomoyo would walk by her window, even if she could just wave to them on the street below, she would be happy.

She sighed and rested her chin on her elbows, sweeping her long blonde hair over her narrow shoulders. She was contemplating changing out of the gauzy dress she was wearing and going for a short walk to look at the stars when she saw him. She didn't know what it was about him, but she shrank back from the window. She knew that even if he didn't see her, he would know she was there.

_He was looking for her._

A lump of pure fear welled up in her throat. It choked her, drowned her lungs in blood and made it impossible to breathe. Her stomach filled with ice and she slammed her back into the wall of her dimly lit bedroom.

_Why? Why was he looking for her?_

She did not even know this man, but he was out there… searching…

She ventured a peek outside, just to see if he was gone. The second she looked out, she regretted it.

Their eyes connected and a shiver ran down her spine. She was trapped by that gaze, held like a bug in a gossamer web. He was a frightening sight, covering in tattoos and piercings, with those dark bangs flopping in his pale face. He looked troubled, but he was dangerous.

Chi had seen him running with Spider's gang, burying the bodies of young girls that came from Spider's house and sometimes dragging them into it.

He had always sent a shiver down her spine when she laid eyes on him, but now…

She didn't quite get a _bad _feeling from him, but she felt no _safety_ coming from him.

Something was _different _about him.

Something was _brighter_ inside his spirit. She was sure something had changed.

But that didn't explain why he was _looking_ for her?

Finally, he released her from his gaze and Chi yanked the curtains closed over the window. She would not be going outside tonight, not for anything in the world. Not as long as that man was out there, lingering on the sidewalk like a sore.

She knelt by her bed and prayed for her friends. Hopefully, he wouldn't go looking for them, too.

Then, she slid beneath the covers, but would not sleep that night.

X X X

And I don't think anyone else needs to be worked on. I hope that answers all questions anyone had.

Spider poses as Syaoran in order to learn things he shouldn't but Yuzuriha and Ryuo are all over him!

The girls are getting fleshed out and Touya is on the hunt for them and the guardians.

No Sakura and Syaoran just yet. Next chapter!

Let me know if any of my changes are unclear and I'll do another author's note in the next chapter.

Questions, comments, **concerns**?


	6. Loss of Heart

I haven't updated for a whole week. I'm sure I've let you all down! *boo-hoo*

So I will write as many chapters as I can before my mom leaves with the laptop again.

FanFiction is being all stupid and won't let me log on to post anything! *Grr*

X X X

While Syaoran was out doing whatever he was doing with Ryuo trailing somewhere after him like a good guard, Yuzuriha sneaked to the prince's chambers to check on the girl he had found. The sheets and blankets were disturbed, but Yuzuriha didn't see the girl anywhere in the room right away. She checked the bathroom and peeked under the bed and even peered in the gloom of the closet, but the room was deserted. She was going to run for Syaoran and Ryuo. Between the three of them, they would be able to find one girl, but when she whirled around, she saw the curtains stir. A skeleton leg flashed between the shades for a moment and then disappeared again.

Sighing, Yuzuriha sat down on the edge of the bed and called, "Come on out. I know you're there, hiding behind the curtains."

The curtains fluttered and a thin white face peeked out at her.

Yuzuriha patted the space on the bed beside her. "Come on out. It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," she paused. "No one is. You're now under Syaoran-kun's protection. No more harm will come to you, I swear."

The little white face watched her warily, gripping the thick dark curtains in bony fingers. "W-who are you?" The girl finally asked in a soft weak voice.

"My name is Nekoi Yuzuriha. And you?"

She hesitated. "S-Sakura," she said finally. "I-I'm in the p-palace, aren't I?"

"Yes."

Those jade green eyes widened and she darted back behind the curtains again.

"Is something wrong?" Yuzuriha asked.

"I-I can't be in the palace!" Sakura whimpered into her hands and sank down onto the floor. "Syaoran-sama will… he will…"

Yuzuriha tried to distract her by going to Syaoran's dresser and rooting through it for something for the girl to where. It was always cold in this room and only Kami-sama knew _why_. "Do you think you could come out where I can see you, Sakura-chan?" She asked.

"W-why?" Sakura whispered. "Are you going to do something to me?"

"No." Yuzuriha felt something cold and unpleasant twist in her stomach like a snake. What had happened to this girl for her to fear everyone and everything around her? Even Syaoran and his honest gentle eyes? "Of course not. I just want to wager a guess at what size you are so I can scrounge you up some proper clothes."

Sakura peeked around the curtains and she appeared truly shocked. "You would do that for me?"

Yuzuriha blinked and felt bile rise up in her throat. This girl even doubted kindness. "Yes, of course," she murmured and held up one of Syaoran's smaller shirts. "This might be a little big for you, don't you think, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura emerged from behind the curtains with her hands clenched in the oversized hospital gown she was currently wearing. Yuzuriha almost looked away, but focused her eyes on the state of her body. Sakura was a skeleton, skin and bones, like a waif. The hospital shift just hung off her like a sack, but she was tall and nervous and pulled it down constantly. This only served to expose her delicate collarbones and the smooth tops of her breasts. Her long legs were twigs, stick-thin and bony, and her feet were narrow and bloody as if she had been running barefoot for a long time. Her arms were just as thin and her hands were a little raw looking, but the worst wounds on her arms mimicked the angry cuts on her ankles. It looked as if she had been restrained, but struggled against whatever held her for a very long time. Her face was gaunt and her eyes had sunken way back in her head. Her skin was grey with filth and bruises and her mouth was especially swollen.

Holocaust-chic.

Yuzuriha shuddered to think of the wounds _inside_ her.

"I might have to get you some of my clothes," Yuzuriha said after she had found her voice. "You're about my size, a little smaller, maybe."

Sakura stared down at her body, ashamed.

"But, how about we get you into a bath first. Syaoran-kun is a good guy, but some things just slip right on by him," Yuzuriha said with a forced laugh.

That only appeared to make Sakura more nervous.

"Don't worry," Yuzuriha told Sakura as she fished through Syaoran's bottom drawer for a clean pair of his boxers. She knew this really wasn't the time to be teasing the prince, but she couldn't resist the chance to pester him for eternity. "Here," she said as she cautiously approached Sakura with the clothes.

The girl looked like a frightened animal, ready to bolt at any second.

"These are Syaoran-kun's clothes –"

"The prince's clothes?" Sakura nearly fell over herself trying to get away from the garments as if they would strike her. "I couldn't possibly!"

"He won't mind," Yuzuriha insisted and forced the clothes into Sakura's hands.

The girl held them at arm's length as if they might suddenly come alive and bite her. "But," she protested.

"No, buts," Yuzuriha interrupted. "Come on. I'll draw you a bath, Sakura-chan."

"But," she began weakly.

Yuzuriha subjected her to a fierce glare and it did silence her, but it also had a very negative effect on the terrified girl.

Sakura dropped the clothes and ran. She was almost to the door and Yuzuriha was going to give chase, when the door swung open and there were Syaoran and Ryuo. Sakura slammed, headlong, into Syaoran's chest, sending them both floundering backwards to land in the hallway in a heap. Ryuo gave a startled squawk and fell on his butt all on his own and Yuzuriha shook her head. He fell a lot, he would be fine.

It was Sakura and Syaoran who she was worried about.

Syaoran had knocked his head on the wall pretty hard and looked just a bit dazed. He had one hand on each of Sakura's trembling shoulders and was holding her lightly and steadily. She was position on her knees between his long legs, bracing her hands on his thighs and looking purely terrified of their proximity. Her entire frame was trembling as if it would break. It took Syaoran a moment to bring himself back to his senses and then he carefully helped Sakura to her feet.

"Yuzuriha-chan," he said in a low calm voice. "What's going on?"

Yuzuriha blinked owlishly.

_Yeah, explain what was going on without having him angry at her._

"Um."

_Well, she was off to a _great_ start._

"I glowered at her a little and she ran away."

_Brilliant._

"Why?" Syaoran persisted and gently guided Sakura back into his room while Ryuo scrambled to his feet.

"Because she should take a bath."

"And why were you glaring?" He continued, watching her out of the corner of his amber eyes.

"To heat the water, Yuzuriha-chan?" Ryuo teased.

Syaoran silenced him with a look and sat Sakura down on the edge of the bed. "Are you alright, miss? What's your name?"

"S-Sakura, if it pleases you," she whispered.

He blinked at her and his handsome face bore a distressed smile. "Sakura-san, then, are you alright?"

She could only nod, still staring at the floor.

"Yuzuriha-chan," Syaoran said sternly and snapped her out of her clever stories.

"She was a little worried about wearing you clothes, Syaoran-kun," Yuzuriha said finally. Syaoran was getting impatient; this was no time for jokes, but Yuzuriha looked serious.

"So, get her some of yours or a maid's uniform. You've scared the poor girl half to death," Syaoran sniped. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

Yuzuriha had never seen him so protective, not even of the girls he brought to his room after banquets and parties. As it was, he usually _threw_ them out in the morning or snuck off and left Ryuo to throw them out. Yet, he was even still kneeling at Sakura's feet and holding one of her hands gently in his. Sakura, though, was less than thrilled at his touch. She was trembling and clenching her jaw tightly against something. Yuzuriha tried to communicate Sakura's fear with her eyes, but Syaoran wasn't really paying attention to her.

"I am," Yuzuriha said finally.

There was a tense pregnant pause throughout the room. It wasn't quite thick enough to require a knife to cut it, but would at least need a fork wielded with a very persistent hand. Ryuo shuffled at the doorway, shifting from foot to foot. Yuzuriha continued trying to communicate Sakura's discomfort with her eyes, but Syaoran was staring blankly out the window as if he was oblivious to the rest of the world.

Finally, Sakura whimpered.

Syaoran started, rocking backwards onto his butt and releasing her hand. Ryuo let his breath out in a rush and Yuzuriha scurried from the room lest Syaoran snap at her again.

"Um, Syaoran-kun," Ryuo began, but Syaoran cut him off.

"It's alright, Ryuo-kun. I'll take care of everything, just close the door behind you when you leave," Syaoran murmured softly.

Ryuo could only nod. Who was he to deny the prince whatever he wanted? Sakura's pointed white face gazed helplessly desperately after him, but he could do nothing to help her. Ryuo offered her a smile and closed the door gently.

Syaoran moved through his bedroom, picked up the clothes that had been dropped in a heap, absently neatened his cloak, and pulled the curtains on the windows open as wide as they would go. Then, he pushed open the windows and looked out over Clow – his kingdom. Sakura shifted restlessly on his bed and he lurched back to the matter at hand. He went to the bathroom, laying out his clothes on the rim of one of the sinks, and started up the shower.

"Sakura-san?"

"Y-yes, Syaoran-sama?" She whispered. There was a tremor in her voice from fear.

"Come here, please." He positioned her in front of him and gently unfastened the ties of her hospital shift. She trembled uncontrollably while he did this and protested weakly, but he shushed her quietly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sure you don't want to shower in your clothes."

She weakly shook her head, but didn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. She waited for him to tear the cloth from her shoulders and fuck her over the rim of the sink. She imagined the pain she would feel when he pushed inside her ass, stretch her and tear her. Or jam into her womb, rip it out like Moe and Larry had. Or bite her poor tender nipples like Spider. She felt tears pricking at her eyes. She thought of Touya who had delivered her into this new Hell. Maybe it wasn't even new. Maybe she was still trapped in Spider's house. Maybe she was dreaming and her dream had become a nightmare.

She bit her lip and shuddered.

Syaoran gently patted her slim shoulders, rubbed soothing circles on her skin with his thumbs, but she only trembled harder. "Sakura-san, it's alright," he murmured. Some of her pale hair fluttered against the back of her neck, drawing his eyes to the knobs of her spine. She was _so_ thin.

She blinked furiously and glanced at their reflection in the mirror.

Syaoran had a kind face, kind eyes, but the amber color sliced through her heart like a knife.

_He had to be Spider._

_He just had to be._

"Sakura-san, take as long as you need to get cleaned up. Then, put on these clothes and I'll get you a bed for the night."

She tilted her head to look at him in the mirror, at the gentle curves of his wrists and long fingers. He didn't appear to mean her any harm, but she had been wrong before.

"Are you hungry, Sakura-san? I'll get you something to eat from the kitchens," he offered.

She snapped her eyes forward again.

_He had to be Spider. _

Everything in her conscious mind insisted that he had to be. His eyes and his scent perfectly matched Spider's.

_They just had to be the same person!_

…but, her body didn't agree. The tension was melting from her shoulders at his touch. Her stomach stopped quivering at the sound of his voice. She felt safe when she was reflected in his eyes. Her body believed that he wasn't there to hurt her.

But which part of her was right?

X X X

Syaoran watched her.

She appeared to be having a war with something inside herself. Her jade eyes flashed from his face, abruptly to the mirror, and then strayed to the floor and stayed there for a very long time. Sometimes, she shivered but, other times, he felt her muscles turn to putty under his hands.

"Sakura-san?" He ventured.

She started violently, as if he had struck her.

"It's alright. I'm going to leave now, so get cleaned up, okay?"

She just stared at him as if they were speaking a different language. Her eyes were wide and sparkling with tears that refused to fall. He watched her throat flash and shiver as she breathed, working furiously as a guard against tears.

"Sakura-san," he murmured again.

She continued to stare at him with that deer in the headlights expression on her face. Unsure of exactly what to do, how to respond to her terror and mistrust, he waved at the shower and left the bathroom. He paced his bedroom for a moment, listening for her to get in the shower and sat down heavily on his bed when she finally did.

What was he going to do with this girl?

She was terrified of him, of Yuzuriha-chan, of _everyone_ and _everything_!

He put his face in his hands and focused on breathing deep and even. Right, he was the prince. If anyone could help her, it was him so he needed to get his head on his shoulders and help her get through whatever had happened to her.

Then, he would _punish_ whoever had hurt her!

X X X

Alright. That's enough of them. Too much angst follows them wherever they go. *shakes head* It gets a little ridiculous.

Send questions, comments, and concerns!

People who review are loved forever and those who don't are scorned!

*threats*


	7. Cat's Eye Cafe

Here we are. I've got so many characters, oh boy. I've got to start getting a few of them together in the same place or else my brain will die from overload of trying to keep track of everyone.

I have 1… 2… 5…

12 main characters!

Plus Yukito-san and Touya and Yuzuriha and Ryuo! And Subaru later when Kamui comes in because I can't separate the twins! 17 characters…!

Alright! That's it! NO MORE CHARACTERS!

…Ugh…

X X X

Fai was wiping down the counter of the café Cat's Eye as he had been for several minutes in an attempt to coax the rings of coffee from the woodwork with little to no success. Actually, if he had been honest with himself from the start, he would have realized this, but he was a bit distracted.

First of all, it was _raining_. In the _desert_. And it _wasn't _monsoon season, yet there were _rivers_ running through the deserted streets and thunder crashing overhead in the overcast grey sky.

Second of all… there was a ninja in the rear booth.

If that wasn't an ominous sign, then Fai D. Fluorite didn't know what was.

_Something_ was going to happen and he couldn't be sure that it was going to be good.

Oh well, until then:

"Oi, Kuro-tan, it's really coming down. Did the big puppy think to bring an umbrella?" Fai called to the ninja, Kurogane, who was his fellow waiter and also someone the magician enjoyed teasing to no end. "Kurga-lurga? Did you hear me?" He was going to barge back there and fake cry all over the ninja, but the door swung open and two dripping wet young women tumbled in to land in a heap on the rug.

They were far more distracting than the rain and Kurogane combined.

"Ah?" Fai squeaked and scooped up some tablecloths. They were now towels and there was nothing they could do about it unless they sprouted legs and ran away. He draped the cloths over the girls as they slowly untangled their way from each other and stood up. "Off the carpet!" He ordered and herded them to the kitchen where they could drip on the floor all they liked.

"Please," one of the girls insisted. "I'm sorry! We just stumbled in accidentally!"

"Nonsense," Fai interrupted. "Stay inside until this rain stops. I'll get you something hot to drink." Just as the words left his smiling mouth, Fai had developed his master plan. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Kuro-chan! I need you!" And just to tork the ninja up, he drug out the "e" in need until it was more whine than word.

"You stupid magician! I'll throttle you!" Kurogane barged into the kitchen, brandishing an _actual butcher knife_ which cause Fai just a little worry. His mouth abruptly snapped closed when he laid eyes on the girls, who had both gone shocked and rigid when they saw the knife. Embarrassed, he hid the blade behind his back and glared daggers at the magician.

The girls just stared at the pair and then looked at each other.

Xing-Huo was a bit concerned and desperately tried to send Tomoyo a telepathic message, but Tomoyo appeared unconcerned. Xing-Huo had felt her friend's entire body relax when she laid eyes on the man with the knife, which was precisely what had startled Xing-Huo in the first place. She tugged on Tomoyo's jacket weakly, nervously, but Tomoyo shrugged her off without so much as looking at her. Xing-Huo pressed closer to her friend.

The one man was tall and slim. Blonde with sparkling blue eyes and an honest cheerful expression. He wore a smile like his face was permanently frozen that way.

Xing-Huo recognized him because Chi used to speak of him every time the girls met outside the café. Chi said that she would love to talk to him because something stirred in her chest when she saw him, something warm bubbled to the surface and her heart beat a little faster.

Tomoyo begrudgingly snapped that she was in love, Sakura glowered at her, Chi bushed three different shades of cute pink, and that was the end of that.

The other man was not someone she recognized and, if she and Tomoyo made it out of here alive, hoped to never meet again. He was big and brutish with dark hair and narrowed red eyes. He looked as if he ate nails for breakfast, but Tomoyo couldn't tear her eyes away from him.

Tomoyo was positively captivated by him.

Xing-Huo tugged on her friend's arm again, more insistently. "Tomoyo," she whined quietly.

Kurogane's head angled to the side. Why did that name sound familiar? Did he have a sister he was unaware of?

Fai was clearly confused, looking back and forth between Tomoyo and Kurogane. They were simply staring at each other as if trying to figure something out. The other girl was nervous, shifting from foot to foot and tugging on this Tomoyo's arm urgently.

"I'm sorry," the magician said finally. "Do we all know each other?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "I don't think so, but…" She chewed her lip and looked Kurogane up and down one more time. "I'm Tomoyo. If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

"Kurogane."

Tomoyo smoothed her jeans subconsciously and continued to stare at him. "Perhaps your memory is sharper than mine. Do you know me?" She asked.

Kurogane blinked and then shook his head. "No. I don't think I've ever seen you before in my life," he muttered.

"Déjà vu," Fai chimed in and pranced around the kitchen. "You must be lovers from another life!"

Tomoyo's cheeks turned pink and she abruptly looked away from Kurogane to mutter something unintelligible to Xing-Huo.

Fai ducked just in time to avoid a frying pan that had been directed at his blonde head. Kurogane muttered something and then stalked into the rear of the kitchen. He shuffled around, found some fresh hot rolls and a pot that he filled with boiling water, and then brought them back out into the café. Fai trailed after him, whining, and the girls followed after a moment. Tomoyo had this confused dreamy look on her face, but Xing-Huo was worried. Kurogane set out mugs of tea and the rolls, grabbed Fai by the front of his shirt, and then shuffled away.

X X X

"Tomoyo," Xing-Huo said urgently but her friend sat calmly drinking tea at the counter as if nothing unusual was going on. "I think we should leave, please. I'm afraid."

"We're safe here," Tomoyo said plainly and tore through the golden crust to butter the soft inside. She sounded so convinced that Xing-Huo almost believed her.

"But," she insisted. "That man had a meat cleaver! He was going to kill the blonde man! Tomoyo, what if he kills us, too?"

"He won't. We're safe here," Tomoyo said with deep conviction.

It was clear nothing would change her mind, so Xing-Huo sighed deeply and sat back against her chair. "Well, Tomoyo, could you explain to me how you know this so I can feel as comfortable as you so clearly do?" She asked finally.

Tomoyo sipped her tea and nodded. "Do you remember when Chi was talking about how she felt when she saw that blonde guy?" She asked quietly, leaning forward as if she were telling a secret. "Safe? Something warm blossoming in your chest? I know it's crazy, but I feel that way now."

Xing-Huo tried to keep her jaw from falling open in shock. Cynical Tomoyo was saying she felt the same way as soft Chi? Something had to be wrong. "Um, Tomoyo, are you feeling alright?"

She glowered at Xing-Huo, narrowing her eyes to slits. "Xing-Huo, don't test me. I'm fine." She whipped her head around and gazed at where Kurogane and Fai were talking in hushed tones. "I just… I can't explain it, but I feel so safe with him," she confessed quietly. "I've never been safe my entire life, but I feel that if I stay with him…"

This time Xing-Huo had to believe her because a few crystal tears were making slow white paths down her cheeks. She drew Tomoyo into a hug and closed her eyes. Maybe things were finally beginning to look up for them.

But still, what about Sakura and Chi?

X X X

"Where'd they come from, magician?"Kurogane demanded.

Fai raised his hands innocently. "They fell in the door, Kuro-pon. What can I say?"

"If this is a clever trick, magician, I'm warning you."

"Clever? Why, Kuro-chan," and that was as far as Fai got because Kurogane smacked him smoothly upside his head and he trailed off into a whine of pain.

"Don't start, magician." Kurogane snarled at his friend. "I saw them fall in the door, but you know that's not what I meant. I feel… something and I don't even know that girl!"

Fai's face grew very serious. "I did have a premonition."

"Of what?"

"For an instant, I saw very clearly the prince and a young woman; I also saw you and that girl Tomoyo; myself and a beautiful blonde; and Xing-Huo and another dark haired young man," Fai said quietly. "The girls will each face a monster and we are their guardians. We protect them until they are ready to fight and then we fall away."

"That's it?" Kurogane asked flatly.

"This is going to be the war of the century," Fai snapped.

"War?"

"Yes, war, Kuro-tango," he continued impatiently. "Do you think they would just have a fist fight and move on. The fate of all of Clow rides on the outcome on these battles. Each loss on our side will lend strength to our enemies."

"You know all this? For sure?"

Fai shrugged. "It's just a hunch."

"You stupid magician!"

X X X

Here we go! All fixed and ready to go! My computer ate half of this chapter somehow!

I'm sorry it's so slow going right now, but I have so many characters to deal with.

Argh!

Questions, comments, and concerns?


	8. Guardian of Dreams

Alright, let's kick it up a notch.

X X X

Sakura nervously ventured a hand under the stream of warm water. After casting an uneasy glance at the closed bathroom door, she let the hospital gown slip down from her shoulders and pool on the floor. She couldn't help but remember the brush of Prince Syaoran's fingers against her skin – so soft, so warm. He had touched her with a level of tenderness she had never experienced. Shivering with cold, Sakura stepped into the shower and let the warm water run over her body. She watched the water stain black with filth and red with some blood and was suddenly very aware of how dirty she was. It had been a long time since she had showered.

She wondered how Xing-Huo, Tomoyo, and Chi were doing.

She was crying before she even knew why though there were thousands of reasons…

_Her parents were dead._

_She lived on the streets of Clow, hiding her very existence. _

_She was rather unimportant if she thought about it. _

_Chi was gone, taken to somewhere else by that man._

_Spider had raped her. _

_Moe and Larry had raped her, torn her apart._

_Touya, her own brother, had raped her._

_She fell into the palace, into the care of the prince. The one person she didn't ever wish to meet._

_She had been separated from her friends._

She actually found herself wondering how it could possibly get any worse, but that was a sadistic thought. After all, the prince could rape her or worse, give her back to Spider.

Sakura shuddered and scrubbed her fingers through her wet hair until her scalp felt clean. Then, she furiously scoured her skin until it was red and raw, sore where it was thin and tender. She wanted to wash away the feel of Spider, the scent of him, him moving inside her like an eel. She just wanted to be clean and innocent again, but she knew deep inside that she would never be the same again. She would never trust anyone again. She was going to scrub her soft intimate folds, but they hurt too badly, burned just with contact of warm flowing water. Whimpering, she scrubbed her thighs and wrists and ankles. The skin had been bruised and rubbed bloody. Finally, she used a bit of the prince's shampoo and washed her hair again.

There was a fluffy towel under the clothes he had given her and she dried off slowly, brushing her fingers over her bitten nipples and the bruises on her ribs and hips. She still felt so dirty, used, and now she had been thrown into the palace like a broken doll.

Was she meant to be the prince's plaything?

Shuddering, she pulled his shirt on over her head, inhaling lightly to catch his scent again.

Clean, soapy, with a touch of earth.

It wasn't quite Spider for there was no odor of cheap cologne.

Sakura pulled on his boxers which just barely caught on her sharp hips, but having no panties underneath proved to be a bit of a problem. When she moved, the fabric brushed her clit and sent a shiver up her spine. She toweled her hair gently and then steeled herself to leave the bathroom.

The prince was sitting on his bed and his amber eyes were filled with worry. "Sakura-san," he murmured when he saw her, but said nothing else.

Sakura swallowed and fisted her hands in his shirt. She wanted to look at her feet, at the floor, out the window at the night beyond, but she had to know. "Y-you aren't going to give me back to Spider, a-are you, Syaoran-sama?" She whispered.

He started, gazing at her questioningly. "No. Who is Spider?" There was honest curiosity in his voice, but her desperation overrode the fact that he didn't know.

"Y-you're not going t-to r-r-rape me, are you, Syaoran-sama?" She whispered, still staring intently into his face.

"What?" He wanted to stand up, take this broken confused girl into his arms and chase away her daemons, but something held him back. Maybe it was the fear in her emerald eyes or maybe it was something else. "No. I would never hurt someone like that."

She turned her face away and started to tremble. "B-but, I'm not someone. I'm not _anyone_," she whispered. "I don't even exist in your world."

"What?"

This time, he did stand up and cross the room to where she was standing. Her eyes were wide again and he could see the veins in her eyes pooping out against the opalescent whites, growing bloodshot with terror. She backed up until her spine was shoved up against the closed bathroom door, but Syaoran didn't stop until he was in front of her. He laid his hands on her narrow shoulders and she cried out quietly as if he had struck her.

He shushed her and brushed some pale hair behind her ear. There were few strands of pure white running through the chestnut locks, brought on by great stress. He had seen war heroes and survivors of great tragedies with the same such strands, sometimes even completely white. It was not the hair that belonged on a beautiful young woman. He twirled a bit around his long slender finger.

"What makes you think this way, Sakura-san?" he asked quietly and caught her frightened eyes.

For a moment, she drowned in his gaze. She couldn't find her way from the amber depths, but looking into his eyes was like looking into his heart. She saw that he truly meant no harm and really wanted to help her. She had never been safe in her entire life, not even before her parents had died because they were drunks and druggies, but this prince… He could help her. He could make her safe. He would protect her, she knew this.

"S-Syaoran-sama," she whispered and his name was more a statement than even his name now.

_Syaoran._

_Guardian._

_Safe._

Sakura closed her eyes and a few crystal tears made their way down her face to catch under her chin. She felt his fingers brush, feather-light, across her cheeks and smooth the tears away as if they never were. When she opened her eyes, he was gazing at her with profound gentleness.

"Sakura-san, please."

Please what?

Let me help you?

Tell me what happened to you?

Tell me what has made you hurt so deep inside?

All those things, she supposed.

She closed her eyes again and reached hesitantly to cup his face. His skin was soft and smooth, like velvet. Spider had been warm, too, but rougher as if there was a layer of sand beneath his skin. She thought of Touya, warm and sweaty, thrusting into her over and over, grunting like a hog.

Syaoran enjoyed the feel of her small hand on his cheek, chilled but warming up by touching him. He had been watching the expressions play across her face. A faint smile. A grimace. And then pure fear again and her eyes snapped open. She jerked her hand away from his face and collapsed to her knees in a heap at his feet. He knelt down in front of her and gently tried to take her into his arms again, but she shoved against him.

"N-no! Please, don't hurt me anymore!" She protested weakly and managed to drawn her legs up against her chest in fetal position. She rocked back and forth in a state of shock that made Syaoran shrink back. "Please, I'm sorry. Just, please, don't hurt me."

He rubbed his hand through his hair and swore under his breath. He thought they had been making some headway, but she had reverted right back into her fear and anguish without even provocation. Sighing, he scooped her up in his arms despite her protests and carried her quietly to his bed.

The best he could figure was to just lay her down in his bed and make sure she was comfortable and then just leave her alone for the night. She was terrified of him so it wouldn't help for him to stay with her. Hell, it might make it worse.

He turned down the covers and laid her against the pillows. Then, he gently pulled the blankets back over her and stood looking at her for the longest time.

Finally, he found the words for what he wanted to say.

"Sakura-san, I know you don't trust me, but if you would put even just a little bit of your trust in me, then I could help you. You want to punish the man who hurt you, don't you? Make sure he can never do this to anyone else?" He murmured and absently smoothed the sheet with one hand.

Moonlight illuminated the curve of her beautiful beaten face. Her tears glittered like diamonds on her pale cheeks.

He sighed deeply.

"I'm not going to stay here tonight."

She stiffened.

"I'll be right down the hall if you need me, alright?"

His hand was just turning the cold knob when she called his name like a prayer through the darkness.

"Syaoran-sama, please… wait…"

He couldn't help the way his heart fluttered in his chest like a bird that wanted to go to her regardless of what the mind thought was best.

"I… I don't want to be… alone," she whispered. "Could you… stay with… me?"

He smiled gently because that's what he had wanted all along. He wanted to stay with her.

"Of course, Sakura-san."

She suddenly seemed nervous, but Syaoran paid it no mind and pulled a chair up alongside his bed. Once he was seated, he rested his elbows on the edge of the bed and gazed at her with perfect tenderness in his amber eyes.

"I will be here when you wake up," he said gently.

Syaoran closed his eyes because his gaze appeared to make her uncomfortable. He listened to her shifting anxiously for a while and pretended to be asleep. She finally settled down and he heard the sheets rustle some more. What could she be doing now? Then, he felt hesitant fingers around his elbow, curving along the span of his forearm and finally hooking through the crook where he had been resting his head. This contact appeared to soothe her and she settled down quietly.

For a while, she lay very still, but relaxed. Her breathing was slow and shallow.

She wasn't asleep.

Suddenly, her fingers began to brush gently against his skin, smoothing circles, following the path of a faint scar. She clearly relished the feel of him and took some comfort from it, but he wonder why. Then, her touch stilled and her breath became deep and even. Syaoran cracked his eyes open and watched her sleeping for a while.

Then, he too dropped into the world of dreams.

X X X

Come on, people, you know the drill!

Questions, comments, and concerns are welcome, but flames will be used to roast marshmallows!


	9. The Black Shadow

It'll take me a while to update, everyone, because I only have the computer on the weekends when my mom is home. So hang tight. I will update when I can, alright?

X X X

Sakura opened her emerald eyes, but she couldn't understand exactly why she was awake. Night was still a star-speckled black curtain outside the window and it was still raining, but there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room. In Prince Syaoran's room. She buried her face in his pillow and inhaled deeply to find the same scent, so close, so similar to Spider's but different. Something stirred against her and her entire body tensed in terror. Her fingers were wrapped around a sharp bony elbow, touching warm naked skin, gripping it as if it was all that could hold her steady. Then, she realized that she had shifted, rolled over so that her body was curled around Syaoran's head. The fingers of her free hand were twisted through his hair, holding the chocolate locks. One of his hands was resting on her hip, cupping the bone as if it was a broken bird or a heart. For some reason, she felt no fear. There was just a stretching, rolling calm that rocked through her like waves, soothing her ragged nerves and broken spirit.

While his presence comforted her and his scent still caused a twist of worry in the pit of her empty stomach, Sakura couldn't help but wonder what had woke her up from her sound sleep. Syaoran's bed was a cloud, soft and perfect. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept in a bed, just slept…

Something tapped on the window and then she heard a sound she couldn't quite identify. It was like nails on a chalkboard, but also… not. Did it sound like glass being cut…? Or ice forming…? The answer wavered just out of reach.

Sakura untangled her fingers from Syaoran's hair and the crook of his elbow and sat up. The chill night air pricked at her exposed skin. Had there been an open window? Picking carefully around the prince, she put her cold feet on the floor and crossed the room to the window. She looked out into the storm, but couldn't see anything.

There was only night beyond.

She rested one hand on the chilled pane and stared out at the sky. Rain pattered against the glass, tapping like fettered fingers, like ghosts. She leaned her forehead against it and breathed a puff of steam that she gently drew a broken heart in.

She heard that sound again, but ignored it.

It was probably nothing.

She was going to return to bed, pulled the heavy blankets up around her throat, and sleep some more when she saw the window slide open. A shadow entered, sliding across the floor like a puddle of midnight ink. It slithered across the floor, peered up into the bed, and slunk around the prince's chair. The shadow was clearly not just a shadow and Sakura's throat was frozen in fear. She couldn't find her voice where it was lodged somewhere in her chest.

Syaoran stirred, groaned in his sleep, and then sat bolt upright.

Something was wrong.

He pushed his chair back and it hit something. The chair tipped backwards, spilling him onto the floor in an unceremonious heap, but whatever he had fallen over let out an inhuman shriek. Sakura screamed next, because in its mouth was row upon row of jagged white teeth. In that instant, both of the shadow's red eyes focused on her. It looked into her soul, into the injuries that Spider had inflicted deep inside her body and heart and mind. It screamed a horrible banshee shriek that stabbed through Sakura like a thousand white-hot needles of ice. Syaoran grabbed a dagger from under his mattress and stabbed the thing, but the blade clattered harmlessly against the marble floor.

Then, the shadow was gone, but Sakura was still screaming.

"Sakura-san!" Syaoran ran to her and grasped her by her skinny shoulders. "Sakura-san!"

She hit him, landing a few harmless blows on his chest and shoulders, and struggled. "No! Let me go!" She screamed and lunged forward at him. He tried to keep her at arm's length, but she managed to sink her teeth into his collarbones and bit him viciously. The taste of his blood appeared to calm her on a cellular level, because the second his flesh wielded under her teeth like the skin of a ripe peach, she lost the fight in her body. Sakura sagged into him, sobbing into his chest and pressing one hand against the bite seemingly subconsciously.

"Sakura-san," he murmured. "You, know what that thing is, don't you?"

She sniffed, but nodded weakly.

Syaoran slipped his fingers under her chin and raised her face so he could gently smooth her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "Tell me, Sakura-san."

She blinked and her eyes sparkled with diamonds in the darkness. She swallowed several times and he watched her throat flash. "I-it's a S-Shadow," she whispered. "It's o-one of Sp-Spider's Shadows. One of his dark spies."

"Why was it here, Sakura-san?" Syaoran asked softly.

She shook her head, freeing her chin from his fingers and shaking pale tresses into her face. "I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know…" Tears swelled on her lashes and ran down her cheeks. She sobbed into her hands and collapsed to her knees in a puddle.

Syaoran knelt with her and pulled her gently against his chest. For a moment, she resisted, but he persisted. Finally, she caved into him, wrapped her arms around his narrow waist, and sobbed into his chest. He rubbed her back tenderly, following the column of her spine and the curve of her ribs.

"It's alright," he murmured into her hair. She smelled of trash and soap, but beneath it, he smelled white plum blossoms – hakubaiko – and cherry blossoms – sakura. This comforted him for some reason, assured him that there was a person beneath her fear and exhaustion the same way there were flowers beneath the reek of filth. "It's alright. I'm going to protect you, Sakura-san."

He didn't expect her to answer, but he felt her lips move against his shirt and then she whispered:

"Thank you…"

X X X

Spider hurled his glass at the wall where it shattered into a million pieces. The booze her had been daintily savoring ran down the wallpaper, ugly flowered stuff from an earlier century. He would have to replace that now and any other time he may have been happy to finally be rid of the hideous flora, but not now.

Sakura was alive.

He stood from his chair, lit up a cigarette, puffed it several times, and then put it out on the girl he had tied to his couch – a pretty blonde. She screamed through the cock gag in her mouth and tears coursed down her pale swollen cheeks. He flicked the cigarette into the trash and studied the round black burn her had created on the soft tender skin in the cleft of her ass. He had stuffed her pussy and asshole with a long thin vase and the base of a cold brass lamp. Sure, he had ripped her, but did it really matter?

Sakura was alive!

"Oh, shut up," he snarled.

She whimpered and sobbed one more time. Snot and blood dripped from her nose, running down over the base of the gag. Spider backhanded her and heard a satisfying crack, maybe it was her jaw, maybe it was just air pressure, but either way he was happy to hear it.

He paced the room, growling and muttering to himself.

It had to have been Touya. He was the only one who could possibly have freed her, but why? What would possess him to free one of the sluts? Sure, Touya was also to play a part in the war that was to come. He was the Seeker, the one who could find the others, but he didn't _know_ that.

Spider took a few deep breaths to calm his anger.

_Okay, good things: _

Ashura still had Chi and the magician was still unaware of the location of the girl he was supposed to be guarding.

One of the guardians, Xing-Huo's guardian, had yet to show his face.

Sakura was spiritually broken.

_And, bad things:_

Tomoyo and Xing-Huo had blundered their way into the clutches of the ninja and the magician.

Sakura was safe in the arms of the prince, her guardian.

Sakura was alive.

Sakura was ALIVE!

Touya had become a rat in Spider's midst.

Spider stopped his pacing. Actually, when he looked at it that way, it didn't seem so bad. Tomoyo and Xing-Huo had been out of his reach to begin with. He could easily pose as the prince and murder Sakura and he could easily kill Touya.

Alright, so it wasn't as bad as he thought it was.

It was just _damn annoying_!

X X X

There we go. Chapter Nine in Web of Dreams.

Questions, comments, concerns, and _suggestions_ welcome.

Message me or review!


	10. Black and White

Chapter Ten!

*Fai fake whistles*

"Shut up, Fai!"

Yeah, I know. Ten chapters in like two weeks… Pathetic, right?

*crowd murmurs*

*screams* "You shut up, too!"

*crowd shrinks*

*mutters* "Stupid people…"

Anyway, now that my moment of hysteria is over…

On with the chapter:

X X X

Fai had managed to convince Kurogane to let the girls stay throughout their shift at the Cat's Eye café. The magician was sure that with a little more prodding he would be able to convince Kurogane to let the girls stay the night at their shared apartment. After all, they couldn't very well toss such helpless girls back out into Clow's flooded streets, could they?

The bells over the front door jingled. It was late and raining. Who on earth would be coming in now? Maybe somebody out for a late cup of coffee once they got off the nightshift? Or some man who had been kicked out of bed by his disgruntled wife?

Tomoyo looked up from the hem of her coat that she was busily patching with a deft hand and course black thread. Xing-Huo was sound asleep, slumped with her head on the pillow of her folded arms on the table Kurogane had dragged into the kitchen for them. They were a bit dirty (and smelly) to leave sitting in plain sight inside the restaurant.

"Ne, Kuro-woof, seat our next table, would you?" Fai called from the kitchen, but only god knew what he was doing. His voice echoed in the silence of the restaurant; there were no customers and so no need for him to be in the kitchen.

Kurogane had been sitting next to Tomoyo, staring at her hands as they worked. "You mean our only table," he snapped. "And stop with those stupid nicknames!" He rose from the table, gathered up a handful of menus, and strolled out into the restaurant.

"Welcome to our café," they heard him grumble.

Then, there was a crash.

Fai's blue eyes widened and he shared a glance with Tomoyo. The girl had already dashed around the table and shaken Xing-Huo awake with brutal intensity. Xing-Huo woke with practiced silence, staring at Tomoyo with wide terrified eyes. Tomoyo paused only long enough to grab her pouch of knives and then dashed into the restaurant with Fai at her heels.

Kurogane was in an unconscious heap against one of the table, which had cracked right down the middle and was lying in several splinted pieces.

"Kurogane!" Fai shouted and darted to his friend's side without looking around for what had caused the attack.

Tomoyo and Xing-Huo, on the other hand, had already locked eyes with the monster in the doorway.

It was Tomoyo's brother: Marcus.

Marcus was tall and thin. His body looked as if someone had grasped him by his hands and feet and stretched him out to a painful degree. He walked kind of stooped over so that Tomoyo thought his knuckles should be brushing the ground like an ape. His features were long and thin, stretched out to accommodate his long skull. His eyes were small and piercing, like a rat's, and this look was completed by his two front teeth jutting out over his bottom lip.

His face split into a rotting smile, like a piece of overripe fruit. "Hello, sister," he said with a sneer.

"Marcus," Tomoyo said and offered him her most dazzling smile. Then, she hurled one of her knives at him.

Marcus caught it between two fingers, spun it, and hurled it at Kurogane's prone form. Fai barely knocked it aside with a discarded fork and cast Tomoyo a questioning glance.

"Xing-Huo," Tomoyo said without looking at her friend.

"Okay," Xing-Huo said and nodded. She clasped her hands together and took a step back. Then, a fine purple mist spread out around her and fanned out across the floor like spilled light, creeping across the floor to curl up around Tomoyo's ankles. Finally, her magic circle opened in a burst of multicolored light.

Marcus's lips pulled back over his distended upper teeth. "Oh, are you going to run, girls?"

Tomoyo didn't rise to his taunt and focused on drawing from Xing-Huo's offered strength. Alone, she was no match for her brother, but with Xing-Huo's help she could fight him with mostly positive effects. She was preparing to lunge at him, when Fai gave a startled shriek and then a hand gripped her elbow. Alarmed, she turned to find herself face to face with Kurogane.

"Back up. Let me do it," Kurogane said and pulled her out of Xing-Huo's magic circle.

Tomoyo watched Fai touch Xing-Huo's shoulder and draw her gently back. What were these two planning?

"What are you…?" She murmured.

"I owe that creep a punch for hitting me," Kurogane said as if that explained everything. "Step back, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo blinked at him and protested, "You can't fight my battle for me."

"You're right," Fai said as he tossed Kurogane his long sword. "But he's your guardian. He can protect you until you're ready to fight your own battles."

"Guardian?" Tomoyo whispered. She had heard that word in her dreams. She stared at Kurogane and then stepped aside. "Alright, Kurogane. Thank you," she whispered.

Xing-Huo clasped the back of her friend's jacket nervously, but couldn't find her voice to ask what was going on. Either way, Tomoyo shushed her.

Kurogane drew his sword, tucking the sheath through his belt loop idly. "Well, creep, remember that you started this," he said plainly.

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you think you can beat me?"

Kurogane smirked. "In a word, yeah," he said.

Then, they lunged at each other so fast that the movement was only a blur. The ring of metal against metal was loud, echoing in the deserted restaurant and in Tomoyo's chest like a second heartbeat. Xing-Huo squeaked out a scream beside her when they clashed again. Some warm blood sprayed across Tomoyo's face, painted her lips with copper. Fai gasped and hauled on their shoulders, pulling them back into the relative safety of the kitchen.

"Step back, Tomoyo-chan. I'm never seen Kuro-pyon like this before," Fai muttered and pressed Xing-Huo against his chest with one long arm.

Tomoyo had never seen anything like this before.

Her brother and Kurogane were fighting, but their movements were such a blur that she couldn't even tell whose blood she was tasting on her lips. For an instant, she could see Kurogane. He was standing straight and tall and was winding up like a professional pitcher. Marcus was bruised and bloody, barely on his feet.

Then, Kurogane shouted something Tomoyo didn't quite catch.

"Not in the café!" Fai howled, but he was apparently too late.

Great golden waves fanned out around Kurogane, pulsing like the beat of flames. They blasted against Marcus, hurled him into oblivion along with the roof and one wall of the Cat's Eye café. Rain poured inside in buckets, flooding the floor and washing away all of Marcus's blood. Tomoyo cupped her hands and rinsed her face.

"W-what _was_ that?" Xing-Huo managed finally in a small choked voice.

Fai was put out. "Something I specifically told Kuro-ron NOT to do inside the café!" He directed his wrath at his friend. "Do you know how many times we have had to rebuild the café because you have used that technique inside?"

Kurogane sheathed his blade and ignored the magician. "Is everyone alright?"

Xing-Huo managed a nod and glanced at Tomoyo.

"You," Tomoyo paused to scrape some wet hair back from her face, "didn't kill him did you?"

"Why? Did you want him alive?"

Tomoyo shook her head.

Kurogane actually looked troubled and brushed past Fai to crouch in front of the young woman. "Why is that?"

"He's hurt me more than you can ever imagine," she confessed. "He is first and foremost my enemy. And second, my brother."

Kurogane ventured out his hand as if to touch her, but hesitated. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "He's still alive."

"I know," Tomoyo murmured and pressed her hand to her chest. "I feel it deep inside." She took a deep breath.

"He'll be back," they said in unison and then stared at each other for the longest time.

X X X

It's a little shorter than I would have liked, but I just wanted to get this chapter up before I go to bed.

Questions, comments, concerns? Suggestions for anyone who is not Sakura and Syaoran and Spider are greatly appreciated.

Ciao.


	11. The Twin Vampires

Whoa! Eustace Baggs has given me a scolding worse than my mother did when I put the frog in the sink that one time. (No one can prove that was me! *shifty eyes*) If everyone felt the same way he (or she with a weird name) did, then you all should have said something! He even asked if I was mentally sane *mutters* which I am as far as I know. I just want everyone to understand what the characters are going through to the letter. Plus, it makes the evil guys more evil.

Sorry if I offend you.

Note: jou-chan is similar to saying girl, but in an endearing sort of way.

X X X

Chi was running.

That was about all she could say for herself. There were no shoes on her feet and a thin white sundress clinging to her shoulders, sticking against her skin like glue with the pouring rain. It dragged her down and tangled around her legs, tripping her up as she ran. Her long platinum hair was hanging in strings around her pale face, slapping her cheeks when she whipped her head around to look behind her.

He hadn't caught up.

Not yet.

Not yet.

Her life with Ashura had finally grown sour. She couldn't say that she hadn't expected it, just hoped that it wouldn't happen and now it had. He had tried to kill her, cleaved a neat cut down the length of her shoulder that was steadily painting her dress pink.

Funny, she had never liked the color.

She tripped on the torn hem, fell in the deep water that had turned Clow's streets to rivers, and stumbled back to her feet. Pushing her platinum hair back from her face with one hand, she continued running. Her legs were tired, burning with exertion, but she couldn't stop. If she stopped and he caught her… She shuddered to think about what he would do.

Well, actually, she knew:

Ashura would kill her.

Life sucked sometimes, but she wasn't quite ready to give it up just yet.

Her breath came in uneven gulps and gasps. Her chest was tight and she inhaled more water than air with each breath, but she had to keep going. She couldn't stop running, she had to keep going, she had to… A shadow stepped out in front of her, obscured by the dense curtain of grey rain. She tucked her chin and shifted her steps so that she could smash whoever or whatever it was with her skinny shoulder. Maybe the shock would stop Ashura long enough for her to keep going.

Yeah, right.

She plowed into the figure with her shoulder, barreling the bones against ribs and a solid sternum. A long arm caught around her back, lifted her feet from the ground, and spun around with her. For a moment, she kicked and struggled, but then the ground was beneath her feet again. She stumbled a few steps and paused long enough to meet the eyes of whoever had manhandled her.

The eyes were dark, rimmed in some lighter color, but deep and shadowed. In the moment she stared into those depths, they changed. The black pupils stretched and elongated until they were scant black slits against blinding gold. Vampire eyes, she realized with a shiver, but then they were dark again. She couldn't be sure she hadn't imagined it.

"What are you doing, jou-chan?" The voice was light and faint, by no means a whisper, but not a deep masculine tone either. It was just smooth, like watered silk, or the voice of a child, but also not…

Chi didn't really have the time or the energy to figure out exactly how to describe it. This young man or boy or maybe even young woman was clearly not one of Ashura's men (or women) so she was safe for now. Maybe if she could get him (or her) to help… "Please, help me!" Chi begged and hung on the figures shirt. She hated to admit it, but she had done it on purpose and there were no breasts beneath her hands, just solid muscle. "Help me!"

Cool fingers plucked her hands away and lowered them. "From what, jou-chan?" He asked.

Chi swallowed and couldn't quite find the words to describe her plight.

From a man who wanted to kill her?

From her adoptive father?

From someone bad?

From what exactly did she need saving?

"Uh, umm," was all she could manage until a hand grasped some of her trailing platinum colored hair. Then she managed a scream and a terrified shout of "Monster!"

Those dark eyes turned to gold and then the hand was gone. The young man, and she could see now that it was a young _man_, swept her close to his body with one hand and sliced at Ashura almost absently. This fight appeared to be nothing to him; he could handle anything Ashura could throw at him, even the cleaver that had lashed through Chi's shoulder.

"Shit," she heard Ashura swear.

The young man took a deep breath that rattled in his chest like something loose. "It's alright. He's gone now," he ventured finally and peeled Chi away from his chest.

She swallowed and tried to find her voice. "R-really?"

"We just met. Do you think I'd lie to you?" The young man asked.

Chi was taken aback. Subconsciously, she thought everyone lied to her. Her parents had after all, but she sensed that this person was speaking the truth. She shook her head and bowed her face away from him, ashamed suddenly.

"Come inside, jou-chan," the young man said, but it sounded gentle. "Let's get you dried off a little. Are you hungry? Would you like some tea?" He swept his long arm around her shoulders and drew her into what appeared to be an inn. Then he called, "Subaru, I need you here."

The transition from grey rain to bright light left her momentarily blinded, but when the spots cleared from her vision, she thought she was seeing double… or almost double…

For starters, they were dressed differently – the two young men that she now found herself faced with. One wore black: black pants, black shirt, all skin-tight and long to hide most of his skin. The other also hid as much skin, but behind blue jeans and a neatly pressed white shirt that was the same white as his skin. They both had black hair – one a bit wavy, tousled, and the other measured straight. They had the same deep dark eyes and features. Same height, same thin bodies, same everything with only a few visible differences.

Twins, Chi decided once she had sorted their similarities and differences into categories. Vampire twins, she supposed, too.

"Who is this, Kamui?" The neat young man asked, the one called Subaru.

"I don't know," Kamui said lamely.

Subaru blinked at his twin, but offered no scornful comment. He simply selected a fluffy white towel from a stack on top of the gleaming wooden counter and handed it to Chi. "Here, dry off. You look cold," he said kindly. His voice was the same strange tone and Kamui's – not a whisper, but not powerful and booming.

"Thank you," Chi murmured and patted at her face and chest through her dress. Her shoulder twinged painfully and a whimper squeezed between her lips.

Kamui's eyes flickered gold and narrowed. "I smell blood," he said suddenly and sniffed in her direction. "Where are you hurt?"

Chi swallowed, throat working furiously. "Umm, my shoulder," she confessed quietly.

Kamui slipped his fingers under the strap of her dress and pulled it down to exposed her shoulder and the wound. Strangely, Chi – who was always so self-conscious, even in front of Tomoyo, Xing-Huo, and Sakura – let him. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and waved at Subaru with one long graceful hand. "Get the first aid kit and then patch her up, Subaru, please," Kamui said and then he strode quickly away from her.

Subaru rummaged around behind the counter for a moment, found a small wooden box, and then asked Chi to sit down on the couch that was taking up most of the lobby. "You'll have to forgive Kamui. He's never been good at holding back the urge to drink when the opportunity arises," Subaru explained quietly and dabbed at her shoulder with a wad of cotton and stinging antiseptic.

"Drink?" Ch whispered.

Subaru raised an elegant brow. "You saw Kamui's eyes change and I saw recognition in your face, but I suppose I was wrong," he said finally.

"Are you vampires?" Chi whispered.

"Yes. Are you scared?"

She blinked and gazed into the dark depths of his eyes for a long time before answering. "No…"

Subaru smiled, exposing white straight teeth. There were no visible fangs or any sort of sign to show that he was a vampire, but Chi knew he was on some cellular level.

"Thank you," she whispered as he threaded a needle and found some surgical pliers in the kit, "for doing this." Silently, she added, for saving me and for helping me heal a little bit. You've helped me see that maybe there are some good people left in the world. Deep inside, her cynical mind reminded her that they were vampires, not people.

"It's no trouble," Subaru assured her and began to stitch the wound closed.

Chi was sure she would be able to hold onto her head while he stitched her up, but the moment that cool needle touched the heated hurting edges of her flesh. She fainted.

"Well, I do suppose that could have gone better," Subaru said lightly after he had propped her up against the arm of the couch.

Kamui just snorted. "Yeah, sure." Then, his eyes grew gold and he asked, "She's one of the girls, isn't she?"

"One of the girls that _that person_ spoke of?" Subaru murmured. "Yes, she is."

"Mine?"

Subaru shook his head and Kamui stared out the window at the rainy gloom beyond.

X X X

Alright, people, you know the drill.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	12. First Move

I'm so sorry I haven't updated for such a long time, but I've had so much to do! I'm in the middle of moving and I was spending some time with my brother whom I haven't seen for five years! School starts on Monday and I have more stuff to do tomorrow, but I'll work hard so please think well of me!

Eustace Baggs: sorry I jumped to conclusions over your comment. I understand what you mean and I'll work on it, but don't hold your breath.

Thank you.

X X X

Spider was touching her.

His hands were cold, rough, touching, pinching, hurting.

She wanted him to stop.

Please, just stop!

In her nightmares, she cried out for Syaoran.

"Syaoran!"

Sakura felt hands one her shoulders, shaking her gently. A beautiful voice was calling her name. Her jade green eyes flickered open and sunlight blinded her in a particularly bright beam. Syaoran's face blocked the beam, peered at her carefully. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her cheeks.

"Sakura-san, it's alright. It's only me. I won't hurt you," he murmured and gently rubbed her shoulders.

"Sy-Syaoran," she whispered.

"Yes?"

Sakura blinked blearily and sat up. The covers slipped down around her waist, pooling there in a silky puddle. She rubbed her eyes with one hand and looked at Syaoran again.

He hastily let go of her shoulders and stared into her wounded eyes. "You were crying out in your sleep. I thought it best to wake you," he said softly and shuffled awkwardly from side to side as if something was wrong. "I'm sorry I let you get hit."

"Hit?" Sakura whispered and then she realized.

She wasn't in the prince's bed anymore. She wasn't in a bed at all. She was propped up in the corner of Syaoran's room, leaning on the wall and there was blood splattered all around her. She peered around Syaoran's narrow shoulders and had to tap down a shriek of terror.

Ryuo and Yuzuriha were sprawled on the floor, covered in so much blood that they might have been dead if it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of their heaving chests. There were piles of black sludge all around the room and pools of crimson beneath them.

Shadows.

A horde of them must have attacked the palace.

Sakura's eyes shot back to Syaoran's face and she struggled to find her voice, but before she could, Syaoran cut her off.

"I'm sorry –"

Yuzuriha interrupted him this time. She didn't get up from the floor, just waved her arms wildly until she had everyone's attention. "It's not your fault, Syaoran-kun. It's Ryuo-kun the airhead's fault. He _should _have been in front of Sakura-chan, but he _moved_," she sniped.

"Well if _you_ had been watching the prince's back like _you_ were supposed to, Yuzuriha-chan, then _I_ wouldn't have had to leave Sakura-chan _unprotected_," Ryuo snapped.

Syaoran heaved a deep sigh. Sometimes he wished he had nice normal bodyguards, professionals that acted like, well, professionals, but instead he had two of his long time friends. Sometimes he was happy for their company, particularly when the life of a royal was smothering him, but other times… sighs were necessary. "Guys, I really appreciate you trying to shove the blame off on each other, but please be quiet," Syaoran grumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You two…"

Yuzuriha rolled over onto Ryuo in an attempt to get up and the squabble ensued instantly.

"Yuzuriha-chan!"

"Why are you always right under foot, Ryuo-kun?"

And they exchanged several more such useless arguments.

Syaoran shook his head.

Sakura giggled and her lips curved into a smile.

Three heads snapped in her direction. Yuzuriha and Ryuo had frozen mid-punch, jaws hanging open in shock. Syaoran's amber eyes were wide, but his lips curved into a matching smile.

Sakura clamped her hands over her mouth and stuttered, "I'm sorry. It was not my place…"

"No, no!" Syaoran said quickly and pulled her hands down from her face. "You should smile more often, laugh." His eyes were impossibly warm. "Heal a little," he whispered so that only Sakura could hear his voice. "It's alright."

Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line, but continued to stare into Syaoran's amber eyes. The perfect tenderness in them convinced her to let her mouth relax into a faint smile.

For the very first time, she smiled without limit or taint.

X X X

Breakfast was a buffet of light fluffy Belgium waffles with cinnamon and apples and cream on top. Yuzuriha was a little too aggressive with the cool whipped cream, but when Ryuo said something she shoved his face into his plate. Sakura decided that Yuzuriha was a little too aggressive with everything and pressed closer to Syaoran's side. Syaoran went so far as to wrap his long arm around her shoulders and rub her arm soothingly. After breakfast, he vowed with himself to spring his bad news on her.

"Sakura-san?"

"Yes, Syaoran-sama?"

He hesitated. The trust and faint sparkle of happiness in the depths of her jade green eyes almost made him bite his tongue, but he persevered. "Ryuo-kun, Yuzuriha-chan, and I have something to do today. I'll have to leave you here in the palace by yourself today."

The light left her eyes. "Oh…"

"I'm sorry."

Sakura's eyes glittered. "I understand. Syaoran-sama is the prince. He has better things to do than look after a worthless urchin like me."

That was a lie. There was nothing he wanted more than to simply stay in the palace all day with her. He wanted to hold her in his arms, cradle her against his chest, and feel her fingers pressing over his heart, but… he was the prince. He had things to do. Counsels to attend and hands to shake. Places to go and people to meet. He was going to offer to bring Sakura with him, but she staggered to her feet and ran from the kitchens in a terrible hurry.

That was when Spider made his move.

X X X

I know it's short, but I'm tired and I'm feeling very bored and uninspired with this story right now.

I had no idea what to write tonight.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	13. Dopplegangers

Alright, I know. I'm so lazy… so save it.

*grumbles*

I have a new puppy and I have to take him out like every three minutes so I can't get much done.

*grumbles*

I have school tomorrow.

*grumbles*

Now, I am moving on.

X X X

Sakura knew it was selfish of her to assume that someone like Syaoran, the prince, would even _think_ about wasting time on a urchin like her, but… she had really hoped that maybe… Well, she didn't know what exactly she hoped for.

_Love? Certainly not. _

_Care? Maybe. _

_Safety? _

_Kindness? _

_Friendship?_

She stopped running and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Her entire body was shivering with exhaustion and nerves.

A little part of her knew she should go back to the kitchens and beg for the prince's forgiveness, but… the more insistent selfish part of her wanted to stay away and see if he came looking for her. That led her to a different thought: what would she do if he didn't?

Sakura shook her head to clear away the thoughts she had no right to think.

Syaoran was a prince, after all.

And she wasn't anything.

She should go back, say goodbye, and leave the palace. After all, she needed to find Tomoyo and Xing-Huo. She needed to check in on Chi. Then, she'd steer clear of Spider's clutches for as long as she needed to, until he forgot all about her and moved on.

She dipped her head.

"Yeah," she said to herself. "I can do that."

"Do what?"

Sakura jumped out of her skin and whirled around.

Syaoran was standing there. His amber eyes were watching her intently, as if she was a fly in a web and he was the spider, but she shoved those thoughts away.

"N-nothing, Syaoran-sama," she said finally. "I thought you had something to do today."

"I do."

Her jade green eyes widened. "But…"

"I decided not to go," he said and smiled. "I'm going to spend the entire day with you."

_Decided not to go? He was a prince, surely whatever he had to do was more important than her._

Sakura blinked and tried to work up enough spit to swallow. "Oh…"

"Come on." Syaoran took her hand and pulled her along behind him. Sakura couldn't help but notice that his skin was a little rough, but maybe she was just a little paranoid. "Is something wrong, Sakura-san?"

She started. "No… Where are we going?"

"Back to my room. You look tired, Sakura-chan," Syaoran said and tugged her along a bit urgently.

_Sakura-chan? Not Sakura-san?_

"Why are we rushing, Syaoran-sama?"

"Because Yuzuriha-chan and Ryuo-kun are after me about not attending the," he hesitated, "thing I'm supposed to be doing today."

_Thing?_

Sakura felt a little swell of fear blossom under her ribs. "Syaoran-sama?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm scared. Something's wrong," Sakura whispered. "You're not yourself."

"I'm myself, I assure you," Syaoran said, but Sakura tried to free her hand from his grip. His fingers tightened around her wrist, bruising into the raw tender skin.

"Please, let go. You're hurting me, Syaoran-sama," Sakura begged.

His face marred into a sinister grin and something mean flashed in the depths of his amber eyes. "That was my plan all along, Sakura-chan," he said. "No one knows about my fetish for bondage so I'm always careful to keep it a secret. I only take street girls and I kill them when I'm finished with them so they can't speak of what I've done to them. I was going to look for a new little wretch when you were delivered right into my hands."

Tears welled up in her emerald eyes.

It _had _been too good to be true!

"No! Let me go!" She screamed.

A familiar kind voice called her name and they both froze.

"Sakura-san? Where are you?"

And then Syaoran walked around the corner, calling for her. Both Syaoran's amber eyes met, locked, and narrowed.

"Who are you?" The Syaoran who had just turned around the corner demanded. "What are you doing to Sakura-san?"

"Shit!" The other Syaoran swore and grabbed Sakura by some of her pale tresses. He yanked her head back at an uncomfortable angle, twisting her neck. "Make one move on me and I kill the girl."

Syaoran's eyes widened and his fists clenched.

Tears squeezed between her lids and then, she screamed. The Syaoran holding her seemed startled, his grip on her hair and wrist loosened, and Sakura wriggled free from his hold. She crashed headlong into the wall, sending up a dizzying array of sparks and stars behind her eyes, but by the time she had cleared her vision enough to look around again, both Syaoran's had leaped at each other. Worse yet, Ryuo and Yuzuriha had just dashed around the corner and seemed about to leap into the fray.

There was only one problem: which one was the prince?

"Sakura-chan!" Ryuo exclaimed and darted to her side to help her up. For once, she didn't shy away from touch and let the dragon warrior haul her up and back by her arm. "What's going on?"

Yuzuriha bit back the smart ass comment that had been on the tip of her tongue. It was pretty clear what was going on! The world was going insane right in front of them! Two Prince Syaorans? And she thought one was bad enough!

X X X

Poor Syaoran, everywhere he goes, he has a clone… or a twin… or an evil impersonator… T_T

This chapter wasn't too incredibly long, but it was the first day of school today and I still need to go to the store. Leave me alone!


	14. Second Sword Falls

I just realized I've been ignoring Touya, but he will make a lovely little tool to kick this story up the arse and get it going. So everybody, if you're wearing a hat, hang on to it! We're going to cover a lot in this chapter, but anyone who wants to know how both Syaorans and Sakura are doing… Well, you guys are out of luck. We'll get back to them.

Please, by the way, let me know if I'm leaving out an important character. Like Touya in this case.

Now, on with this chapter!

X X X

It was pretty much dumb luck that brought Touya to the Cat's Eye Café even in the murk of Clow's rainy night. He arrived there just as the blast of a certain sword-style took out the roof and part of the wall and a figure darted passed Touya. If he had been thinking clearly, he might have grabbed at such a suspicious figure retreating from the scene of a very obvious, well, maybe he could call it a crime. But, as it was, Touya wasn't thinking clearly. He had been trailing after the skinny blond he had seen in Ashura's mansion, followed her until she had given Ashura (and him) the slip. So he had been just wandering wherever his feet decided to take him.

Like he said, it was dumb luck that brought him to the café.

But, hey, maybe he was "the beloved son of the gods" like his sister.

The thought of Sakura sent a stab of guilt and unease through his gut, but he shoved it away. He had these girls and their guardians to think of. He was the only one who could consciously look for them, try to bring them together and he knew from Yukito who went along with who. Overall, he figured he was pretty helpful.

Dumb luck…

How about hitsuzen?

Touya was shoving his way through the debris to see if everyone was alright when the fight broke out. Then, he laid eyes on them and knew them instantly.

Tomoyo and Xing-Huo: the girls.

Fai and Kurogane: the guardians.

Tomoyo was pretty, rail-thin, but pretty. Her hair was long and black and tied back in a long braid that was brushed back over her shoulder, a few strands had escaped to frame her pale airbrushed face. She wore jeans and a long-suffering purple t-shirt with some kind of butterfly design on the front, right across her breasts. She was holding something low at her side, maybe a weapon or maybe she was bluffing. Her eyes were cynical, suspicious, but she shifted to be closer to Xing-Huo.

Xing-Huo looked a little worse off than Tomoyo. She was even thinner, but it might just have been the long baggy black sweatshirt she wore. She also looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes, and her mouth pinched in a tight thin line. She was cute in the way a starving puppy was cute. She had short densely curled black hair, but it had dried funny – sticking up in several different places. Her nails were chewed to the quick and her entire body was shaking. It made him want to take care of her.

Kurogane was big. He had broad shoulders and a strong jaw, a powerful body and hard stony eyes. He obviously wasn't going to take any shit from anybody. Whoever wanted to attempt to give him shit was going to get it and hard.

It was Fai who threw Touya for a loop. The magician was tall and slender. He looked as if the slightest breeze would blow him away, like he couldn't beat his way out of a paper bag. He also was blonde with a charming easy smile and bright blue eyes. He looked like a model, not a warrior, but maybe his strange façade was what made him so powerful. Underestimation is a wonderful thin. Before all the tattoos and piercings, Touya had relied heavily on it himself.

Tomoyo and Kurogane.

Xing-Huo and Kamui.

Chi and Fai.

Sakura and Prince Syaoran.

Well, inadvertently, Touya had gotten Sakura to Syaoran. Tomoyo and Kurogane were already together. Xing-Huo, Fai, Kurogane, and Tomoyo were all in a group. Chi had escaped Ashura, but who knew where she was now? Well, things could have been worse, much worse.

Tomoyo was staring at him with hard eyes. Finally, Xing-Huo put a hand on her arm and she relaxed enough to force out: "I saw you with Sakura."

Touya froze.

Everyone froze.

"Where is she?" Tomoyo asked and there was a subtle threat in her stone cold voice.

Fai interjected, "Now, now. Let's calm down and think about what's going on here a little bit."

Kurogane silenced him with a look and snapped, "I've seen you around, kid, and you're bad news. You run with that gangster, Spider, and his cronies. What do you want?" And he tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword. No doubt this man would cleave Touya in half if he so much as breathed wrong.

_Well, luck, my ass, _Touya couldn't help but think.

This situation could get very bad, very fast.

"And you've seen Chi, too," Tomoyo continued.

The magician, Fai, started. His blue eyes widened and he turned his head to glance at Tomoyo and then turned to narrow his eyes at Touya.

"Where is she?"

Oh, yeah. It was already a ghastly situation, but, hey, it's got to get worse before it gets better. The bad part was that Touya thought he had already hit rock bottom and was on his way back up, but apparently he was wrong.

He raised his hands and offered them palms up in a gesture that was supposed to mean no harm intended. Instead, Kurogane drew his sword and leveled it at Touya's face. Okay, he'd just better stop moving completely or he was going to lose something.

"Wait, wait," Touya protested. "Sakura's at the palace."

Xing-Huo sucked in a sharp breath that whistled between her thin pink lips and Tomoyo abruptly paled.

"I brought her there myself," Touya continued. That was apparently the wrong thing to say because Tomoyo descended on him.

"You what? You brought Sakura to the palace! The palace of all places! Do you know what Prince Syaoran will do to a street urchin like her?" Tomoyo raged. She fisted her hands in the front of his shirt and tried to shake him, but he was a good two and a half heads taller than her. It probably looked comical, but no one was laughing.

"Do you?" Touya asked calmly. He had heard the rumors and he didn't know Prince Syaoran personally, but Spider had a few connections in the palace and Touya had heard through the grapevine that Syaoran was a good man. He apparently knew nothing of the street urchins on Clow's street, but if he approached any and all matters calmly and compassionately. "Do you know what Syaoran-sama will do to  
Sakura-chan?"

That took a bit of the fight from Tomoyo. She released his shirt and took a step back. Her cynical eyes were suddenly puzzled, but she didn't speak.

It was Xing-Huo who whispered, "No."

Fai stepped forward and took this situation by its loose flapping reins. "Who are you?"

"My name is Touya," he said.

Tomoyo's eyes narrowed again. "You're Sakura's brother. You run with Spider. I've seen you. You were there the first time Sakura and I were held as his prisoners in his house," she snarled and was fishing around behind her back for something.

Touya tried to offer his peace. "Yes, I was. I greased the wheels so you could escape," he explained.

Tomoyo glared at him and looked about to snap off his head when Fai put a slender white hand on her shoulder. "Now, now," the magician said calmly. "Let's go into what's left of the café and have some coffee. How's that sound everybody?"

"Like a stupid plain," Kurogane muttered.

Fai's eyebrow ticked. "I didn't ask you, Kuro-poo," he grumbled.

"You said everybody," Kurogane pointed out.

Fai rolled his blue eyes and waved everyone into the café regardless.

Touya dug in his heels and refused to follow. "Wait," he said.

Everyone stopped to look back at him.

"We have to find Chi-chan. Ashura was following her and I was trying to keep watch over her, but I lost her trail," he explained. By now, he assumed they would know about the guardians and the war to come or else they'd be looking at him like he was nuts and Kurogane would probably chop him in half.

Fai shook his head with a deep sigh. "You've had the vision, too?"

Touya blinked. Vision? What vision? Yukito had had a vision, but he was high priest. "No," Touya said finally. "I heard it from a friend. I'm the only one who can actively seek out the guardians and the girls and their enemies, I guess." He was beginning to realize how ridiculous all this sounded. Preordained pairs and mortal enemies. Fate. Yeah, it was all crap. It was like high school – drama, love, fights, crap.

But… what if he was wrong and it was all real?

What if the lives of these girls hung in the balance?

Better safe than sorry.

"We have to get her," Touya continued urgently. "She's not safe from Ashura until she's with you." Here Touya looked pointedly at Fai.

"Chi is part of this, too?" Tomoyo asked.

Did she know? It was hard to tell, but Touya didn't have time to puzzle it out now.

He nodded vigorously.

"Yeah. Chi-chan and Fai-san against Ashura-ou. You and Kurogane-san against Marcus-san. Xing-Huo-chan and Kamui-kun against Fei-Wang. Syaoran-sama and Sakura-chan against Spider," Touya said. Jeez that's a mouthful, he couldn't help thinking.

Tomoyo suddenly brushed by him and raced down the rainy street. Kurogane was after her in a flash, shouting for her urgently, telling her to wait. Xing-Huo was the next to follow, disappearing quickly into the gloom. Fai and Touya stared each other down, but Touya looked away first because now was not the time to be having a testosterone fire. He raced after Xing-Huo and heard Fai following a moment later.

They were quickly lost in the rain.

X X X

Chi sat bolt upright. She was still in the vampires' house. Kamui was sitting at her feet, flipping idly through a book, not reading it, but appearing comforted by the steady turn of the pages. She couldn't see Subaru anywhere and something must have shown on her face because Kamui's voice startled her suddenly.

"Subaru's not here. The others are coming. He has gone away to some place safe until Clow herself is safe again. I will send for him when the battle is over," the vampire said and dragged his hand through his inky wet hair. "You should rest more. You'll open that wound on your shoulder."

They sat in silence for a while and then Kamui abruptly closed his book. "Ah, they're here," he said and stood up, but when he opened the door it wasn't Tomoyo, Kurogane, Xing-Huo, Touya, and Fai who barreled inside.

It was Ashura.

X X X

I'm feeling evil. There's a nice cliffhanger for all the cruel cruel people who don't review. Everyone else, I'm very sorry for you, but you are the minority. So if you want more, review.


	15. Tomoyo

Alright, I'd really like to tie this story up and finish it in twenty chapters. As a result, things are going to get a little hectic.

Here's the game plan:

I'll do one chapter for each of the girls – Tomoyo, Xing-Huo, Chi, and Sakura – and then tie up my loose ends in the last two chapters.

How's that sound?

*boos*

Yeah, well nobody asked you! Sorry, Anonymous XD, but I have grown bored with this story.

Never fear, though, for there is no crappy ending on the way. I have it all figured out.

X X X

Tomoyo Daidouji.

Tomoyo was a rough and tumble girl having been born on the streets to a broken family of five consisting of her exhausted mother, three brothers, and drunken father. Her father often beat her mother and, after he had struck Tomoyo several times and nearly raped her, she decided she couldn't stay in her home anymore. She and her brothers split like a ripe banana and hadn't returned home since.

Tomoyo was small and thin and cynical. She hated the world, frowned upon it with her red mouth and blue-grey eyes. Her hair was long and fine and as dark as silk, but she wore it in a ratty braid to keep it from growing matted. She was pretty, not Chi's gentle soft beauty, but pretty enough to attract too much attention from men. She had been pregnant twice already, and not by her own will, but had given up the babies for adoption. She couldn't support them and couldn't bear to kill them or leave them to die.

Maybe Tomoyo had suffered the most.

Her eldest brother, Marcus, became her enemy shortly after she began her life on the streets. It was especially sad because they had always been close, but Spider got to him before Tomoyo could find him. Spider could be considered the grand architect of the war that had plagued the girls since their birth. Spider wanted Clow and would do anything to get his hands on the desert country. No one knew why and it was known that no one ever would, but everything is hitsuzen.

Maybe that was why…

X X X

Kurogane Ginryū.

Kurogane had once lived in Japan, but had left after the death of his sickly mother who had been a priestess at a local shrine until her dying day. He had never seen much of her and never knew his father. His mother would never say why his father was gone. He supposed it was her darkest secret and she had given herself to the shrine as way of atonement or sanctuary.

Maybe she killed him. Who knew?

From Japan, he traveled with no destination for a long time, just going from country in country.

Searching?

Maybe.

He met Fai in the Cat's Eye Café and had remained there for a while, until the night Tomoyo and Xing-Huo fell through to door. They had been chased there by the storm. Clow's out of season, unusually violent storm.

Did it come for a reason? Who knew?

A blind peddler he met outside his mother's shrine on the day of her funeral had told him that everything was hitsuzen. He had shrugged her off at the time, young and stupid, but now… maybe she was right.

Who knew?

Maybe everybody.

Maybe nobody.

But, Kurogane knew that he met Tomoyo for a reason. Maybe to save her, maybe not.

Hitsuzen?

X X X

It was still raining when Tomoyo raced from the rubble of the Cat's Eye Café in search of Chi. The drops blew on the cold wind at a slant, soaking through her clothes and saturating her dark braid so it whipped at her face. Her breath was damp in her lungs, inhaling more water than air with each breath.

Drowning.

Marcus caught her at the bend of the street, fisted his hand in the back of her shirt, and slammed her into the wall. Her collarbone cracked like a twig, she bit her tongue, and the pain raced - white hot - down her spine. She cried out, inhaled water, and spit it in his face: rain and saliva and blood. Marcus didn't look pleased, but he wiped his face and continued about his task of killing and/or maiming her. It was a forced response not to scream.

Keep quiet, someone might hear you.

Don't scream, someone might give to Prince Syaoran.

Don't make a sound, Prince Syaoran might kill you.

An entire way of life built out of filth and lies, deceit on top of suspicion, rumors spreading like a disease. Misunderstanding, fear, horror, fear, terror, fear, torture…

Fear.

Don't scream.

Tomoyo lashed out, kicked wildly at her brother. The toe of her sneaker met shin, then wall, then thigh. She aimed again and nailing him in the family jewels. Marcus went down, clutching himself, and it was a shock that he hadn't been expecting that from her. Then again, Sakura and Xing-Huo fought like girls. Tomoyo used knives.

That was enough of a distraction for her to get away, keep going, but by now the rain had obscured her from the others.

Tomoyo couldn't say that she believed in the legend Touya and Fai were speaking of.

Guardians.

Legends.

Enemies.

The girls.

Hitsuzen.

But, she would be happy to have someone save her now. Anyone, guardian or not.

She kept running, freezing, drowning.

She could hear Marcus's heavy strained breathing behind her and his pounding footsteps. Maybe she should have stabbed him. Then, he'd be dead instead of pissed off and sore. Tomoyo fished a switchblade out of her pocket and clicked it open in her hand.

_Don't trip now, Tomoyo,_ she told herself. _Whatever you do, don't trip now._

X X X

Kurogane waited for the magician to catch up to him before he peeled off and raced ahead. He passed Xing-Huo, but Tomoyo was nowhere in front of her. Xing-Huo wasn't able to tell him where she had gone. The girl was a skeleton and she didn't have the energy for this. To be completely honest, Kurogane was amazed that she made it this far.

The rain shifted, blowing from a different direction right in his eyes, in his face.

It was then that he saw Marcus, but in the end, he would make it in time.

Maybe there was a reason for that, too.

In the end, there was.

X X X

Tomoyo reached the end of the alley – the dead end of the alley – seconds before Marcus did. It gave her just enough time to slam her back against the wall, push off, and use her forward momentum to stab him. The short little blade of her knife dug into his chest, not deep enough to be fatal, but enough to hurt like a bitch. He didn't howl either – be quiet, don't scream. Tomoyo's broken collarbone ached, burned, and weakened the depth of the wound she had hoped to inflict.

Kurogane reached her in the same instant Marcus pulled the knife from his chest. He stared at it as if admiring the swell of crimson blood that dripped from the tip. The rain plastered his hair to his skull, making him the brother she had shared so many hot desert summers swimming in the oasis with. She almost told Kurogane to stop when he drew his sword to cut down her brother.

Marcus dropped the knife. It clattered and in that second, Tomoyo knew something was wrong. Something was going to happen that shouldn't.

"No!"

Kurogane stabbed, ran Marcus through in one clean neat cut.

Tomoyo was too close.

The tip of the sword penetrated her belly, sunk in deep and cold. The chill expanded through her from the edges of the wound, sank into her soul, her bones. Marcus fell forward into her, dragging the sword with him in his descent and impaling her neatly. Still swallowing her cries, Tomoyo wrapped her arms around her brother because he was her brother now.

They were dying.

Why hold grudges and become ghosts?

Kurogane's face was stricken and he pulled the sword out. Crimson sprayed over his face and hands, painted him like an Indian chief. "To-Tomoyo," he stuttered.

She smiled. Her first and last truly happy smile.

"I didn't mean to…" he continued but trailed off because she was shaking her head.

"Guardians can't kill the enemies," she whispered. "It's okay."

She slumped down with her brother in her arms and exhaled her final breath. Kurogane hit his knees beside her.

_What had he done?_

And the rain poured down on all of them.

X X X

One of the girls was dead. Her strength went to that of their enemies, making them stranger harder to beat. The guardian Kurogane had failed, killed who he had been born to protect. Yukito had seen all this in his dreams. His dark prophetic dreams.

It was for that very reason that he contacted _the witch._

_X X X_

Questions, comments, concerns?


	16. Xing Huo

Hello, all, yes, I'm slow, I know.

I so want to hit twenty reviews with this story and Death. It's driving me absolutely nuts!

X X X

Xing-Huo Reed.

She may have been better off.

She, at least, had a father, but Fei-Wang was as big as he was mean. He often came looking for Xing-Huo, but she would never return home to his lighted bedroom and video cameras. (Fei-Wang dabbled in amateur pornography, kiddie porn.) He wanted his daughter to submit to all his tortures and positions and grow round with pregnancy for his new sicker arc of porn.

Xing-Huo was pretty enough to star in Fei-Wang's home made movies, but had no wish to do so. She had long densely curled black hair and big innocent purple eyes and a soft voice. Her pale hands touched softly, sewed wounds carefully. She would make a good mother someday if she ever trusted enough to open her heart which she would. She still searched for the good in the world. She felt hope deep in her breast, but all that changed in an instant.

She felt Tomoyo die, felt Kurogane's blade twisting in her gut as if it had been her own body and not something leaching over the bond Xing-Huo shared with her friends. She had also felt Sakura being torn apart countless times, hurting in deep secret places, but there was nothing she could do.

She couldn't do anything now either.

She listened to Kurogane's anguished howl and kept on running through the rain.

X X X

Kamui Shirou.

Kamui and Subaru hadn't always been together. He had spent half of his natural life looking for his twin and then, he had been hurt. He had been saving some puppies, a noble cause, he supposed, but the puppies were meant to die and he had interfered with that. So, he paid the price. The wound would have been fatal, but someone – a woman with long dark hair and a scent of sake about her – had brought him to the hospital. There, he had found Subaru. His twin was already a vampire and saved Kamui by making him one, too.

They had been together, inseparable, ever since.

For the first time, now, apart, it didn't seem fair that Kamui would…

X X X

Xing-Huo barreled through the doorway and smashed her shoulder against the spine of whoever had been standing in the threshold. For a moment, all she saw was black and then a flash of pale blonde hair. Long pale hands grasped her shoulders, hauled her up and out of the way, the side of her face met wall, and black temporarily clouded her vision. In that instant, she saw Tomoyo's soul begin to ascend into the void of the sky, but then something pulled it back. The light grew brighter, warmer, and then vanished all together. The crushing sadness and the surge of power to her enemies nearly knocked Xing-Huo off her feet.

This fight couldn't be won.

How could four emaciated street girls from broken homes, whose greatest concerns were their next meal and where to crash for the chill desert night, stop a man like Spider from taking over the country of Clow? Why couldn't this burden rest on Prince Syaoran's shoulders? He was the prince, after all.

Put simply, a nagging little voice in the back of Xing-Huo's mind said, men just didn't have it in them.

Xing-Huo shook her head to clear the explosion of lights and stars and tweedy birds. Then, she took in the dim little room. The couch had been knocked over, shoved up against the fireplace and was smoking dangerously by now. (Some idle subconscious part of her brain also had her do a once-over for a fire extinguisher.) There was a big hole in the floor, jagged boards sticking up like the maw of an angry beast, seeking to swallow someone down. There was a big man with long dark hair looming over a smaller, thinner black-haired figure. After a moment of staring at the smaller one and feeling a swell of something warm and safe blossoming in her chest, Xing-Huo recognized the eyes.

Chi had often spoken of vampires.

In an instant, a flash of intuition, Xing-Huo recognized Kamui and saw a spark of what was to come. She decided that she would not allow that to happen.

Fai exploded through the door behind her, barreled his chest into her back, and they both went sprawling across the floor and into the middle of the fight. Xing-Huo didn't register Chi's scream, but Fai did. In a flash he was off her and lunging around the big lord for Chi. Kamui hauled Xing-Huo up with one hand, dragging her behind him.

"Magician, do you have your girl?" Kamui shouted.

_Your girl…?_ Xing-Huo thought. _Was Fai one of the guardians Tomoyo had spoken of?_

Chi's voice was high-pitched, hysterical. "Xing-Huo, I felt something! Where is Tomoyo-chan?"

A sliver of pain lashed through Xing-Huo's heart. She knew without a doubt that Tomoyo was dead and surely Chi knew it, too, but neither of them was ready to admit that dark fact. Better to go on believing that maybe they had been wrong, but they weren't and now…

Their enemies were stronger.

As if they didn't have enough problems, Xing-Huo's father shoved his way through the door. He was big and rather formidable and frightening and his ugly face wore a sneer like a gargoyle's permanent maw. It suited him well and Xing-Huo's blood turned to ice in her veins. She was sure her heart stopped beating.

Beat, beat, beat-beat.

Silence…

Breathe, Xing-Huo, you're going to pass out. Breathe…

Chi screamed again and Xing-Huo sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth. She refreshed the vision of Kamui dying in her arms, bit the inside of her cheek, and lunged at the vampires back before her father could snatch him up in one of those beefy hands. Kamui hit the floor silently, rolled, and pinned her beneath his body.

"What are you doing, jou-chan?" He demanded.

Xing-Huo got her knees around his waist and rolled him off of her. "I'm saving your life! Fei-Wang will kill you!"

Kamui's golden eyes turned dark and he kicked a hole in the floor easily, splintering boards in a shower of nails and dust. If he had a point, Xing-Huo missed it because there was an explosion behind her and Chi's constant screaming fell silent… eerily silent, too silent.

_Oh, god, no… Please, no, don't let her be dead. Please, Kami-sama, if you will never answer my prayers again, answer at least this. Please, don't let Chi be dead._

Xing-Huo had no more time for prayers because her father snatched Kamui up in his hand and squeezed. Kamui's mouth opened, fangs bared like an animal and his long claws sliced through the skin at Fei-Wang's wrist. Had Fei-Wang always been that big? No, it was the power he gained from Tomoyo's death. It made him a giant, a giant that could crush Kamui in one hand just like this.

"No!" Xing-Huo shouted.

She needed a weapon, needed something, anything…! The closest she could come up with was one of Tomoyo's throwing knives from the depths of one of her boots. Well, that had been what she had been walking on for as long as she could remember, but now she was glad Tomoyo forced her to take it. Though what Xing-Huo would do with a little two-inch blade against this behemoth that was now her father, she would _never _know.

Kamui was hacking, choking; blood was dribbling from the corner of his mouth. God, her father was crushing him! Breaking ribs and puncturing organs, killing him! Vampire blood be damned. He couldn't heal if his body was crushed or he had no body left to heal.

"Stop it!"

Grinning, Fei-Wang grabbed the boy's legs and began to pull him apart at the waist.

_Oh, god! Oh, god! No… No! NO!_

Xing-Huo screamed, not Chi's scream of terror or Kamui's scream of pain. She just screamed because she never had before. That was the rule of the street: quiet, quiet, don't make a sound, don't attract attention to yourself. No anymore, Fei-Wang needed to see her, just once as a powerful young woman, not someone to torture and kill, rape and molest.

For a moment, Xing-Huo fantasized that she saw surprise on his ugly smirking face.

Then, she leaped up and sank that little two-inch blade into his eye. Blood squirted over her face, got in her eyes and mouth, blinded her and choked off her breathing. She didn't have time to land, just hit the floor on her side. Coughing, hacking, and crying, she discovered she had missed the yawning hole in the floor and one of its jagged spears by millimeters. There was a nasty cut on her side, but she thought she would live.

Fei-Wang crumpled like paper and Kamui was dropped from his clutches. He stared at her.

She had done it.

She had evened the score.

But, her glory was short lived because she was only there for a moment.

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?


	17. Chi

I'm so sorry for being so slow. I've had so much to do. We just moved and school started and there's a big hole in my backyard that I have to fill in and the grass was knee deep and I only had a push mower. T_T

Alright, nobody cares. Whatever. *grumbles*

And please forgive Chi's last name. She doesn't have one anywhere on the internet. If someone knows it, please let me know and I'll iron it out.

X X X

Chi Chobits.

Chi had had it rough from day one.

Since the day she was born, death had been nipping at her heels. It was as if her very birth had called it there.

She had thought that everyone's lives were like that. She thought the life she lived was normal, usual, nothing to cry and hurt and need therapy over, but then again… her mother always told her that she didn't belong in their family.

Chi was the strange one. She didn't have her father's dark hair and her mother's dark eyes and the trademark darkness that ran in her family. Her skin was fair, freckled as a young child and burned easily in the desert sun, not something her mother's olive toned skin did. Her hair was pale, the golden honey blonde that rarely survived beyond the age of three, and framed her face in wisps and curls. And then, there were her eyes: big beautiful cornflower blue. That was not a trait that ran in her family; something that sent off warning bells and red flags.

Why?

Why was she so different?

Why did her skin blacken every time her mother touched her?

Why did it hurt every time her father hugged her, made her ribs ache?

Why did her scalp bleed when her mother combed her hair?

Why did her family hurt each other so much?

Her mother was always yelling, screaming, swearing. And her father would touch her so that she smashed into the wall.

For a long time, Chi lived in innocent silent torment. Unknowing of what her family should have been like. And then, Ashura told her how it should really have been. He told her everything about how family really was and he told her in the cruelest of ways.

Chi would learn later that it was to set in motion the events that would allow Spider to rule Clow, but before she learned that…

Ashura told her about her family in words that were too strange for her to understand.

And he told her _everything_:

Her parents were abusive, drunks, and junkies. That her father beat her mother, hurt her, raped her, and that was wrong. That her mother shot her arms with heroin and that made her stupid. That Chi wasn't like them because she was the product of her father's affair with a woman he had murdered. A murder he had never been punished for.

Then, Ashura told Chi to run.

He said that when it was safe he would find her, take her away, and protect her… but only when the time came. Only when the time was right... and that was all he said. He never mentioned that he would betray her, hurt her. Never spoke a word of that and he destroyed her trust, the innocence that thrived in Chi was murdered by Ashura. She never truly got to live.

Maybe that was why…

For a while, Chi lived with Sakura and Xing-Huo and Tomoyo on the streets. They became her only family, beautiful and tormented and perfect.

Xing-Huo was lovely with her dense twisted black curls, haunted eyes, tormented face, and shapely body. But there was a certain air around her. Things didn't happen to Xing-Huo, Xing-Huo made things happen. She had that power. When she needed to, she could take on the world.

Tomoyo was cynical, bitter, hard. She hated things and that made her weak. She would never have the power Xing-Huo had: the power to do what was necessary. Things happened around Tomoyo; she would point fingers, be bitter and angry, but never change anything. She carried weapons, but couldn't use them efficiently against the threats that haunted her. In a few words, Tomoyo was weak and afraid.

Sakura was different, so different. She was strong, powerful, with forward facing jade green eyes. Sometimes, Chi thought she knew the future because how else could she always seem so sure and brave. She was always ready to sacrifice herself for her friends. That was also what made Sakura weak, though no one saw it. She was so ready to believe that her own life was worth nothing.

Then, Ashura came for Chi and Chi left them when she should have stayed, but then again the events were already set in motion.

X X X

Fai D. Fluorite.

He was a magician.

An illusionist…

A trickster…

A liar…

Why?

Because Fai always thought he had something to hide.

Because he wasn't really Fai.

Fai was dead.

He was Yui.

But Yui was dead, too, murdered by Fai and the lies he spun and the tricks he played.

In a way, Chi was to save him more than he was to save her.

His hesitation was all it took.

The fact that he brought up the rear behind Touya instead of being at Chi's side was all it took.

By the time he reached the inn where the twin vampires worked:

Tomoyo and Kurogane were already gone. Marcus had been wrongly vanquished and repercussions waited.

Xing-Huo was already laid against the righted sofa with Kamui's long black coat draped over her body. Fei-Wang had been destroyed, but it made little difference to what would happen afterward.

Chi was facing Ashura. She was an angel in her bloody white dress, pale hair flying, lips pink and pulled back over small white teeth.

Fai's hesitation.

Yui's hesitation.

That was all it took.

Then again, without Fai and Yukito, the witch never would have been able to help them.

X X X

Ashura was a big man, but he was bigger now, looming over Chi with all of his black hair in his face. The locks hid his crazed eyes and his malicious smile, but he couldn't see Chi either. He swiped blindly at her, caught her hip, cracked it.

Chi screamed.

It hurt, but she couldn't lie down and nurse it. She had to move though each step tore a scream from her lips.

_Quiet, quiet. That was the rule. Quiet, Chi-chan, don't make a sound._

But she moved and screamed.

Where was everyone? Kamui-kun and Xing-Huo and Tomoyo?

Why was she always alone?

Why couldn't anyone protect her from this monster?

She couldn't protect herself. She was weak and frightened and broken like a beautiful pale bisque doll.

She couldn't see through her banner of golden hair, but she felt Ashura coming at her with some sixth sense. She moved, screamed.

Ashura whipped his head in her direction, couldn't see her when she was silent. His eyes were crazed, dark. Her blood was on his hands. Oh, god, he had broken her hip through her flesh. How could she even still have the courage to stand? Why hadn't she fallen yet?

Chi was the weak one. She always needed to be saved, even by pathetic hateful Tomoyo. Chi was the coward, the weak one. Her hard childhood hadn't toughened her because she had never known how wrong it truly was.

Ashura grabbed at her, missed, but she screamed. He grabbed again, caught some of her dress, tore it away from her body. He stumbled, almost fell, and his eyes were growing cloudy. Was he going blind? Why would that be?

Xing-Huo had evened the score.

Chi chewed her lip.

She had to help Sakura, not only herself. She had to help Xing-Huo and Tomoyo and Kamui-kun who had been so kind to her.

She moved, screamed. Her hip hurt, bones grinding against each other, shattering.

Her body was too frail, she knew that. One punch could collapse her ribcage, kill her. Chi had always been weak, frail, pathetic, sickly, a shade. But she pushed all those thoughts aside.

She couldn't be weak.

Ashura whipped his head around. She had been silent, unmoving, pressing a thin hand to her hip and holding her breath. He _was_ blind. He couldn't see her if she was quiet.

_Quiet, Chi, quiet. Number one rule of the street._

But the true question was: how much pain could she take before she screamed and he found her?

She took a step back to test her will. Blood spurted between her dislocated bones, ran down her leg, pooled across the floor like something alive. She ground her teeth so hard that it seemed as if they would crack in her mouth. Black spotted her vision, but she held on to consciousness with both hands.

There was no way she could run. She could barely take a single step and she didn't even have a weapon.

She didn't have anything.

She was helpless, alone.

She needed help.

She couldn't do it alone.

She was weak, a coward.

Chi bit her lip and took another step.

_Quiet, quiet._

No, this was her battle. She had to be strong, make her friends, her family, proud.

She needed a weapon. That was what she needed.

Maybe one of the bones that was poking from her flesh?

No.

Maybe the knife Kamui-kun had given her?

Of course, was she stupid?

Chi took another step and refused to scream.

In the other room where Xing-Huo and Kamui-kun were fighting Fei-Wang, she heard a death rattle. Who had died? Xing-Huo? No! She couldn't think thoughts like that. She had to be strong, think positive. Attitude is everything.

Don't scream, quiet, quiet.

Two more steps until she could get the knife from under the table where it had skidded from her hand during the fight with Ashura. She had lost it after he hit her that first time, shattering her hip. No don't think about that.

One more step. God, don't scream.

The hilt, solid cold steel fit like a prayer against her palm and she cradled it to her chest.

_Throw your voice, _she coached herself. _Just like when we used to gang up to steal food. Pretend you're somewhere else, a distraction. Get his back to you._

Ventriloquism.

She wet her lips and threw her voice.

"Ashura-sama, why are you doing this to me?"

He whirled around, slammed his hands into the floor, scrabbled for a body that wasn't there. Chi studied his twisted profile, dark hair matted in his handsome face. He was old enough to be her father, sick enough. The floor was slippery with blood beneath her bare feet. She wiped her palm on her wet dress and gripped the blade again.

She had to do this.

Now.

Kill him.

Murder him.

Ventriloquism.

It was necessary.

Ventriloquism.

Murder him.

Kill him.

Now.

Chi threw her voice again. "Please, why are you doing this?"

He whirled around, back to her. She leaped for him, pushing off with her good foot and swallowing the scream that worked its way up her throat. She focused on the exposed back of his neck, on the tender vulnerable vertebrae.

No hesitation.

She knew only two things:

One was the pain in her hip.

The second was that Ashura had a knife, too.

Fai appeared behind her. She saw him out of the corner of her eye, glanced at him, and then the tip of her knife was in Ashura's neck. Flesh yielded, the blade jittered off of bones, jarred her wrist, blood sprayed and covered her face with coppery wetness. Her knee hit his back and she screamed, though quietly.

He heard that little sound and jerked at her with is knife.

The tip pierced her belly.

Chi would always remember the cold ice penetrating her.

That blade was so cold.

Ashura fell.

Chi fell. She landed on her hip, but did not scream.

If Fai had come any earlier, if he had not hesitated and brought up the rear of the group, Chi would never have fought. Fai would've fought because he would have seen the man that murdered Yui. But he hesitated and Chi killed the man that broke her.

Even things that are broken can be fixed, it seemed, if only the right events happen at the right time.

X X X

Not really a hardcore, break out our swords and murder people. I wanted the girls to defeat these guys with brains and guts. I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. My life is a wreck, but I'll try not to neglect this story for too much longer.

Questions, comments, concerns?

Reviews please.


	18. Sakura

Nothing to say! T_T

X X X

Sakura Kinomoto.

She had never had it easy, but she still saw the light. Everything bad that happened to her had to eventually even out, become something good.

Ying and Yang.

Sun and Moon.

Fire and Ice.

Oil and Water.

It all had to come out evenly, balanced.

Everything bad had to have an alternate, opposite good reaction.

Her parents died and forced her onto the streets of Clow, but she had never really loved them. They were going through a nasty cruel divorce that would have torn Sakura's heart apart. It was better that they had died before all that so she at least had a few good soft memories of them.

When Spider caught and raped her for the first time, she met Tomoyo.

The second time, she was reunited with her brother and delivered into the care of Prince Syaoran.

The world couldn't be completely black and bad. There had to be light at the end of the tunnel, silver lining to those storm clouds.

She believed that with her whole heart.

X X X

Prince Li Syaoran.

He hadn't always been a prince.

X X X

Ryuo and Yuzuriha were looking on at the two Syaorans.

Which was which?

Which one was the prince and which one was the impersonator?

Sakura would've been able to tell them which one was Spider, but when she had fallen, she had lost sight on him. Now, there was no telling them apart.

"Ryuo," Yuzuriha said, "You grab one, I'll grab the other."

He nodded and released Sakura to lean against the wall. She gasped for breath and looked at the two Syaorans very hard.

Which one?

Yuzuriha and Ryuo circled them and Yuzuriha boldly lunged first. She caught one by the hair and yanked him back. Ryuo grabbed the other in that instant and put him in a headlock. For a moment, they were both quiet, breathing hard and heavy. Yuzuriha's eyes were very wide, staring at Ryuo around Syaoran's head. Clearly, this was the extent of her plan.

Heavy breathing was the only sound, then: "Him! It's him!"

The Syaoran Ryuo was holding shouted and flailed in a manner that was close to accusatory pointing. "Him! I'm the prince!" He shouted and struggled against Ryuo's headlock. His eyes rolled in Sakura's direction, wild and panicked.

Was he telling the truth?

Now the Syaoran Yuzuriha was holding began speaking, too, though calmer and quieter. "It's me. I'm the real prince. This fellow is an imposter, clearly. Yuzuriha-chan, let go. You know it's me."

"It's not! He's the imposter! Don't listen to him!"

"Ryuo-kun, come on. You know me. Let go. It's me. I'm the real Syaoran."

"No! I'm the true prince!"

"Stop that shouting. They know who it really is. I'm the real Syaoran."

"No! You're a liar! He's the imposter! Kill him!"

Yuzuriha's eyes were growing wider and wider and Ryuo's face wore a look of indecisive panic like a mask.

What do we do?

Who was the real Syaoran?

Which one was the prince?

Which one was Spider?

Then, Ryuo gave a faint nod. It was such a quick jerk of his head that Sakura almost missed it, but Yuzuriha had seen it very clearly. Her motions were so fast they were a blur. On second her hand was empty and fisted in Syaoran's hair, the next she held a gleaming dagger. She pressed it to his throat, drawing a line of crimson.

Sakura gasped. "Wait!"

Yuzuriha glanced at her, silencing her with a cold look.

Something was wrong!

Yuzuriha wasn't herself. Sakura sucked in her breath sharply and then Ryuo saw it, too. He released his Syaoran and lunged for her. Syaoran grabbed him and slammed him back into the wall. A long crack slithered down the marble and Ryuo slumped in a puddle of black unconsciousness. Yuzuriha showed no reaction at seeing her friend brutalized so. She just applied more pressure to the dagger at her Syaoran's throat. Red slithered down his neck, ran beneath the white of his shirt, staining it. His throat flashed as he breathed.

Sakura swallowed.

Syaoran's fingers were working silently, forming gestures Sakura didn't understand. Then, there was a burst of fire and white hissing light. Yuzuriha screamed in agony and the light faded in time for Sakura to see Syaoran cut her down. There were tears in his eyes, mingling down his throat with the blood.

The other Syaoran laughed meanly. "I didn't think you'd have it in you, your highness," Spider mocked. His figured changed, morphing back into his natural figure. The only thing that stayed the same were his amber eyes, the same shade as Syaoran's, only ugly and cruel.

Sakura lost her breath.

Syaoran narrowed his eyes and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. "Why would you do that? If you had a desire to hurt me, you could have left them out of it!" His rage and despair was palpable, bitter. "They were friends, good friends."

Sakura felt tears welling in her own eyes.

Spider snickered. "And now you've cut her down. You see, your highness," he sneered, "this isn't just about the girl anymore. Her friends have already played their parts. The guardians have already done their bit. The need for you is nothing, no more." He waved his hand dismissively. "The only reason I didn't have Yuzuriha-chan kill you is because I need to kill you myself to make the curse complete."

Syaoran leveled his sword at Spider's throat. "You will pay for her suffering with your life," he snarled.

Spider raised a brow. "Oh? You can't kill me."

Syaoran lunged, but the path of the sword curved harmlessly to the side.

"What?"

Spider clicked his tongue and wagged his finger at Syaoran. "So sorry, but the only person who can kill me in Sakura-chan," he gave them a crooked evil grin. "And I made sure to break her completely just for this moment. Nothing can stop me, especially not her."

Syaoran slid between Spider and Sakura. "It was you?"

"Yes."

"You did this to her?"

"Yes," Spider sneered. "I stole what was destined to be yours. I destroyed her body, shattered her heart and soul, tormented her, fucked her…"

Sakura shuddered. Syaoran stepped back, pressing her trembling hands into his back. "Hold onto me," he whispered. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Then, something took over Sakura's body and she shook her head. "No. You can't. If we run, he'll win."

"Win what?" Syaoran whispered.

"All of Clow," Sakura breathed. She stepped out around Syaoran, touched his hands, and gently took his sword. She had no experience with a weapon. It was heavy and unwieldy in her hands. She was more likely to kill herself than hurt Spider, but she drew in a deep breath and let it out. "My friends are all dead, aren't they?"

"Yes."

"But, the score is uneven."

Spider's eyes narrowed. "The witch is interfering. There is no way for you to know such things."

"The witch?" Syaoran asked.

Running footsteps pounded down the hallway behind them. Touya skidded around the corner. "Sakura!" He shouted.

She appeared not to see or hear him. "Yes," she murmured. "Tomoyo was killed by her brother via the guardian's sword. Both are dead, but Xing-Huo evened the score. She saved Kamui-kun from the fate that was meant to take him. Fei-Wang is dead. Chi defeated Ashura-ou, who was blinded by Xing-Huo's victory. We are winning."

Spider pulled his lips back over his teeth in a snarl.

"If I defeat you," Sakura said, taking a step forward, "the curse will fail, forever."

"There is no way you will win," Spider hissed.

Sakura fit her hands around the hilt. "We shall see."

X X X

_It was then that the borrowed strength left her._

X X X

The sword was too heavy. The tip sank down and scratched against the marble. Sakura's limbs felt leaden. She couldn't even lift it. Spider leaped on her and she went down screaming. Her head cracked against the marble and her face was inches from the blood pooling out around Yuzuriha's dead body. Spider was on top of her, pressed between her thighs and preventing her from gaining any leverage with which to rise. She beat weakly at him with her fists. He laughed, spraying spit on her face and reached for Syaoran's sword.

X X X

"Sakura-san!" Syaoran shouted.

"No!" Touya hauled back on the prince's shirt, dragging him away. "No! You cannot help her! It has come down to this!"

"What?"

"She must defeat Spider alone or everything the others have died for has been in vain! If Spider kills you, not even the witch can help us!" Touya explained. He sounded like he knew what was going on, but was explaining it in such a slapdash way that Syaoran couldn't understand.

"What witch?"

"Yuuko, the witch of dimensions," Yukito said. He appeared behind Touya and look over Sakura and Spider wrestling on the floor with great distress and sorrow.

"Do you think Sakura will make it?" Touya asked nervously.

Yukito closed his eyes. "Only she can say," he said and drew Syaoran back by his elbow. "Come away, my lord."

"But–"

"Come. We must allow this to play out as it will," Yukito said sagely and drew both of them away.

X X X

Sakura managed to gouge her finger into Spider's eye. He fell off her, howling. She rolled over and scrambled for the sword. Her fingers just touched the hilt, when he recovered and dragged her back by her ankles. She rolled over, kicked him, and heard the satisfying snap of cartilage in his nose. Blood sprayed down his chin.

She scrabbled for the sword again.

Spider leaped on her, pinning her to the floor. He wrapped his fingers around her throat, cutting off her air supply. Sakura struggled vainly, scratching and thrashing, but to no effect. Spider's mouth twisted up in a bloody broken grin and he bent down over her face. Some of his weight lifted off her thighs as he moved.

"Sakura-chan, you always were too pretty. I can't wait to fuck your cold corpse," he snarled.

She brought her knee up into his crotch. _That_ got his attention!

Spider howled in agony and clutched himself.

Sakura had always fought like a girl.

She scrambled away from him and hauled on the hilt of Syaoran's sword. Holding it to her chest, she rolled over and braced it under her ribs as Spider leaped at her. A scream was caught in her throat. Spider slammed down over her and the blade exploded out his back in a shower of red. The hilt jammed into Sakura, broke a few thin frail ribs, but Spider's lifeblood spilled out over her. The copper filled her mouth.

There was a look of disbelief on his face and shock. He stared at her until the light faded from his amber-colored eyes. Then, the slumped across her and crushed the breath from her lungs. The scream tore from her throat at the realization of what she had done.

Then, like the others, Sakura was gone.

X X X

Sorry I haven't updated in so long.

(Insert lame excuses here.)

I've been busy, but I got so many reviews reminding me of the effort I had put into this story so here we go. I figure this should be wrapped up in another two or so chapters.

Ciao.


	19. Choice: Fate and Time

Alright, second to last chapter.

X X X

Yuuko Ichihara had waited for this moment for more than a year.

Everything had been resolved.

Hitsuzen had comes to pass.

Now, she lingered at the doorway to her beautiful house cluttering up an entire city block, nestled between skyscrapers. The property value was too high to count, but she would never sell. She loved this house. It was built on something sacred and precious.

She sighed and brushed some exquisitely long black hair across the shoulder of her kimono, twisting it around one slender finger. Then, she moved silently through her house, stepped behind her favorite dressing screen, and pulled her dress from the space beneath the floor. It was black with high pointed shoulders and a scooping neck. The long sleeves practically trailed. There was a long slit up the front, between her legs, and she pulled on high boots to hide her flush of cream colored skin.

Then, she sat before her dressing mirror and did up her hair. Once most of it was pulled into a bun that allowed it to flow down her back without getting in her way, she freed her bangs from the confines of a sakura pin. She added ribbons bearing the pattern of crescent moons.

Finally, she adorned her necklace. The glittering onyx moon with countless gems trailing off it to her white shoulders hung down between the swell of her cleavage.

The contrast of her completed getup was spectacular.

She put on some lipstick though she did not need it and from behind the screen stepped the Witch.

X X X

The first of the children had arrived.

Tomoyo: a pretty young woman with dark hair in a matted braid over one shoulder, bitter cynical eyes, perpetually frowning mouth, and too much blood on her clothes. The front of her shirt was torn open violently, cut, but the skin beneath was seamlessly healed and pale.

Kurogane: a big formidable man wearing all black and carrying a silver dragon sword. The girl's blood was on it.

They both looked confused, but Tomoyo recovered faster.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded and groped around behind her back for something. A weapon, no doubt, but was unable to find one by the desperation glowing in the backs of her eyes.

"I am the Witch of Dimensions, Ichihara Yuuko. Do not be afraid. I am here to help you," she told them coolly.

Kurogane leveled his sword at her face. "Yeah, and we're just supposed to take your word on this?"

Yuuko's eyes narrowed. Slowly, she raised her hand and laid it on the flat of Kurogane's blade. Then, she lowered it. Kurogane strained against her, muscles trembling with exertion, but Yuuko could have been swatting a fly for all the effort it took her to lower the tip of the blade into the ground at her feet.

"If I wished to kill you, I would have done so already," she snapped.

Kurogane glared back at her.

"I was contacted by Yukito-san, High Priest of Clow."

"I don't believe you," Kurogane growled.

Her eyes cut through him, silencing him. "Believe what you will. Your coming here was hitsuzen and it is also hitsuzen that I help you," she told them. She glared through Kurogane. "Tell me, did you not fail in your duty as a guardian?"

He jolted as if she had struck him.

Tomoyo's voice was bitter and sharp when she cut in. "Yuuko-san, I am dead. Why am I here?"

Yuuko sighed deeply and close her eyes. She was very tired. "Because someone has paid a price. The price allowed me to collect your soul after the conclusion of the battle. For another price," she looked purposefully between Kurogane and Tomoyo, "you have a few choices."

Tomoyo's throat flashed as she swallowed.

Yuuko took that as an unspoken sign to continue. "You can accept this fate as it is: Kurogane has failed and will suffer eternal damnation, your brother is defeated, and you are dead. For all it is worth, your goal was accomplished: Spider will not be capable of taking over Clow."

"But Kurogane–" Tomoyo began.

Yuuko cut her off with a raised hand. "He failed as a guardian and murdered the one he was born to protect. There is nothing that can be done with that outcome, unless…" She stared into Tomoyo's eyes, gauging the girl. The child was unblinking, resolved, and hard. Life had been unkind to her, but the kind of courage she had was beyond comparison, unparalleled. "Unless, you have your time turned back."

Tomoyo's brow wrinkled in question. "Have my time turned back…? I don't understand."

"Don't listen to the witch," Kurogane snapped rudely. "She means to send you back to the instant before I killed you."

A vein ticked in Yuuko's throat in anger. "Be silent, you great oaf!" She shouted and then composed herself when Kurogane lost his voice to shock. "No, I do not. Turning back time is not so simple. If I were to do that, a paradox would occur and there would be two of you in the same world at the same time. That cannot happen. The consequences would be far too great."

"Then what?"

"I mean to create an alternate stream of time with different challenges and multiple drastic changes. All those who know of it will be drastically changed, but the outcome will be different," Yuuko explained. "Say I turn back your time: you may no longer be a street urchin with a hard life, you may be a princess. Kurogane may be the one who suffers, his family may be murdered, but that would be better than the life of damnation that awaits him now."

Tomoyo crumpled to her knees. "…but, Sakura and Xing-Huo and Chi… I couldn't leave them with the same past in store for them. We're family, best friends," she whispered.

Yuuko allowed a small smile and a traitorous revelation. "The others will be given the same choice. The price paid was for all of you," she said gently.

Tomoyo's eyes glittered. She looked to Kurogane. "What do you think? I'd like to do it, but I could not cause you suffering."

He rolled his thick shoulders. "If what the Witch says is true, then I'm damned already. Do what you think is right," he said softly.

She nodded and pulled the tie from the ends of her hair. The locks fell around her face and across her shoulders. She looked beautiful. "I'll do it. I want to have my time turned back," she said firmly.

"Are you certain? There will be a price," Yuuko said. She had known this would be Tomoyo's choice.

Tomoyo swallowed. "What price?"

"Your anger."

"W-what?"

"The anger you have. If I turn back your time, you will never be able to show anger. You will be forever gentle and serene, like a goddess. Anger will simple not be a possibility for you, the emotion will die in your heart," Yuuko said. Bitterness, hatred, and cynicism went hand in hand with anger. They were the thing Tomoyo relied on the most: her anger was her armor, to lose it…

She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but nodded. "I'll do it," she said.

Yuuko inclined her head and then turned to Kurogane. "You are being saved from eternal damnation thanks to this girl's sacrifice," she told him.

"Wait, Witch. There's something I want," Kurogane said suddenly, just as Yuuko was about to turn away.

She raised a sculpted brow. "Oh?'

"Make it so we meet in this new time. I want to serve her."

"Kurogane," Tomoyo whispered.

"There is a price–"

"I'll pay it."

Yuuko smiled. "You do not know what it is."

"It doesn't matter. I'll pay it."

Yuuko allowed herself another smile. These children would go far.

Kurogane's price was his morals, so that one day Tomoyo would send him away to relearn them. In doing this, he would stumble into this new destiny Yuuko knew would rise up to trouble Sakura. _Feathers. Memory. _That was all she was permitted to know. The entirety went beyond her abilities to meddle.

"Alright, children," she said and clasped her hands. Her magic circle opened beneath their feet, glowing beautifully in all its intricacies.

Magic was her life.

"Good luck," she said and then the clock counted backwards.

The last traces of them faded from her house and Yuuko returned inside. Waiting for her on her shelf of treasures were two vials: one hot burning rage red and the other beautiful soft pearl. Anger and Morals.

The next children would soon arrive so she had no time to go soft.

X X X

In less than an hour, the second pair had arrived.

Xing-Huo: just as lovely as Tomoyo, but softer, gentler, kinder. Her hair was densely curled and her big purple eyes had vast quantities of hope in them. She smiled, actually smiled, full blown 100 watts, white straight teeth when she laid eyes on Yuuko.

Kamui: beautiful, thin, so pale and perfect he could have been carved from white marble. His veins were blue beneath his thin skin and his eyes were profoundly distressed.

"Where is Subaru?" Kamui asked the same time Xing-Huo said, "Hello."

Yuuko inclined her head to both of them and read them her speech. "I am the Witch of Dimensions, Ichihara Yuuko. Do not be afraid. I am here to help you," she told them coolly. One of her ribbons fluttered at her cheek and she brushed it away.

"Are we dead?" Xing-Huo asked quietly, but without fear.

Kamui's eyes widened. Surely his thoughts were only for his twin.

"In a manner of speaking," Yuuko said gently.

"But, we won," Kamui said desperately.

Yuuko nodded. "Yes, but it was never only about winning. The outcome was hitsuzen."

"Hitsuzen?" Xing-Huo asked.

"Meant to be, unchangeable," Yuuko explained.

"Then we are meant to be here?" Xing-Huo inquired.

"Clever girl," Yuuko said with a smile. "Yes, you are now faced with a choice."

Xing-Huo lowered herself to her knees and patted the ground beside her. "Kamui-kun, won't you sit?" She asked. The boy gazed at her, finally shook his head, and elected to stand. "Alright," she said and folded her hands neatly in her lap.

Yuuko began again. "You're choices are to accept this fate as it is: you have defeated Fei-Wang and there have been casualties on both sides. The twins remain together, reunited," here Kamui let out a deep sigh of relief, "and your goal has been accomplished: Spider will be incapable of taking over Clow."

"Casualties?" Xing-Huo whispered.

Yuuko nodded. "Yes: Marcus, Fei-Wang, Ashura, and Spider. Even Syaoran-sama's guards Yuzuriha-chan and Ryuo-kun have been killed. Tomoyo and Kurogane are also lost to you. Chi's wounds will never heal completely; she will never walk again. Sakura's spirit is broken; it was only your combined borrowed strength that allowed her to defeat Spider. Essentially, the only ones unscathed are Kamui-kun, Fai,  
Syaoran-sama, Touya, Yukito, and you."

"So many," Xing-Huo whispered.

Yuuko hesitated.

Kamui troubled her. He had gone through so much to find his twin, but they were cursed. They were not meant to be together and so fate would see fit to rend them apart again. Xing-Huo would ultimately decide the vampires' fate.

But she had to go through with her offer. The price could not be returned.

"There is one other choice: you may have you time turned back."

"Turn back time?" Xing-Huo whispered.

Yuuko nodded and worried her fingers against the onyx moon at her breasts. "If you so choose, a new drastically altered time can be created."

"How drastic?" Xing-Huo whispered. She reached for Kamui's hand and he gripped it.

She nodded towards Kamui. "They will be separated again."

Kamui jolted. His grief was palpable and crippling, but he hid it with silence. He understood this was not his choice to make.

Xing-Huo swallowed. "Will they be together again in this new time?"

Yuuko didn't truly know. "It is possible they may not even be born twins," she confessed. "I am not certain."

Kamui let his breath out hard.

Xing-Huo stood up and pried her hand loose from his fingers. "No," she said.

"Pardon?" Yuuko asked. She wasn't shocked. She had known this, but she had to give Xing-Huo a chance to justify her choice in her mind.

"I can't separate them, not for anything," Xing-Huo said firmly.

Kamui threw his long arms around her from behind. "Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

She turned and clutched him. "I accept hitsuzen. Everything happens for a reason and I cannot change them. If my friends are to die, so be it," she told Yuuko. "I'll stay."

Yuuko closed her eyes and her magic circle opened beneath them, sweeping them away. "It is done," she said to herself.

Xing-Huo would live in Tomoyo and Kurogane's altered time anyway. Fate decided that, but Xing-Huo's choice gave her another sorrowful road. She would be a pawn, an experiment, of Fei-Wang's, but she would also do some good before he murdered her. That was the way hitsuzen would have it.

X X X

The sun was setting hot and golden, reflecting off the glass windows of the skyscrapers around the Ichihara house. Night's chill would come swiftly. Yuuko was settling in with some dumplings when the third group of child arrived.

Chi: beautiful and pale with yellow hair and open blue eyes. She was wearing a white dress stained red and sitting on a cloud of translucent mist so that her toes were inches from the cold ground. Blood was running from her hip, falling through the cloud to splatter on the ground below. She smiled serenely, proudly, at Yuuko.

"Hi," she said softly. She was a sweet child, pure, innocent, kind.

Yuuko returned the smile. "I am the Witch of Dimensions, Ichihara Yuuko. Do not be afraid. I am here to help you," she told the girl.

"I am not afraid," Chi said with a smile. "I defeated Ashura-ou. I survived."

Yuuko felt sick for her next words and they stuck in her throat in anguish. "You will never walk again, Chi," she murmured.

Chi's smile did not falter. "I know," she said softly. "It's alright, though I shall miss dancing."

Yuuko was taken aback. "You have a choice to make now," she recovered, skipping pleasantries and going with what she was sure of. Chi had surprised her and she enjoyed believing that she knew everything. She was a witch after all. "You may accept fate as it is or you may have your time turned back."

"Everyone is dead, yes?" Chi asked suddenly.

Yuuko nodded slowly, shocked again.

Tears rolled down Chi's cheeks. "I thought that. Sakura and Tomoyo, but Xing-Huo," her head snapped up, "she's still alive?"

Yuuko nodded again.

"Tell me, if I have my time turned back, what will happen?"

"A new drastically changed time will be created."

"Tomoyo took that choice, yes?"

Yuuko nodded.

"But Xing-Huo didn't?"

She shook her head.

"What sort of things will change?"

"Everything: your past, your future, your life. You may walk again," she told Chi.

Chi shook her head. "No, I'm alright. It's just going to be Xing-Huo and me now. We need each other. I couldn't leave her all alone. I do hate to be alone."

Yuuko was at a loss for words.

"Yuuko-san, I heard that you can grant wishes," Chi murmured.

"I can, but for a price."

"Okay, tell me, could you give Fai-san a new life. I love him very much, but I feel that there is something horrible inside him. I'd like to save him from that burden. Maybe then he will truly laugh. I think he'd like that," Chi said sweetly. "And also, Yuuko-san looks so lonely. I'd like her to have two people here with her. Just people to make you laugh a little more. Life could always use some more happiness."

Yuuko had to suppress her tears. "The price would be great."

"I understand." Chi smiled from ear to ear, glowed.

"Your ability to walk."

"I have already lost that, Yuuko-san, so that is not very fair."

"The movement in both your legs that is the price. Later in your lifetime, you would have been able to walk again. The price in your ability to walk, now and then," Yuuko said. She felt ill again.

Chi stopped smiling. "Oh, I may have been able to dance."

Yuuko nodded.

"It doesn't matter. I want Fai-san and Yuuko-san to be happy," she said cheerfully.

Yuuko smoothed out her dress and tucked some hair behind her ear. "Consider it done, Chi," she said and then the magic circle took the girl away. She sighed heavily.

Fai would also go to Tomoyo and Kurogane's alternate time. Though Yuuko was not sure how, she knew that this would soothe Fai's sorrows. Chi really was a beautiful kindhearted young woman. She had given up her most precious thing to help someone she barely knew and a man who had not been able to help her.

Maybe she owed them from a past life because everything was hitsuzen.

Behind her, two young girls appeared. They were lovely, something Chi had apparently pictured for the witch. One had long densely curled blue hair and small leathery wings arching from her back. The other had short pink hair and small feathered wings poking out from behind her. Surely and quiet memory of Xing-Huo, the hair, and Sakura, the essence of light and dark, and Tomoyo, sad eyes and mouths. They both gazed at Yuuko for a long time and then said in sweet unison, "Everything is hitsuzen."

X X X

A short time later, the final children arrived. By then, night had fallen and it had begun to rain. The night was surprisingly warm. Yuuko set about with a few lacquered umbrellas and lanterns spilling warm light. Chi's girls followed her, mimicking her movements. Finally, Yuuko spoke to them.

"You are very lovely children. What are you names?"

"Lovely children! Lovely children!" They cheered and clapped hands perfectly with each other.

Yuuko found herself smiling. "No names then? We shall have to call you Maru and Moro."

"Maru and Moro! Maru and Moro!"

Then, the children appeared in faint shower of light.

Sakura: her jade green eyes were fearful, dead, her pale hair hung around her thin terrified face. She was a wraith, a ghost. She would never heal, never trust, never smile, never be the same again. She was just too far gone.

Syaoran: the prince. He was thin and handsome with soulful amber eyes and soft chocolate colored hair. He had the heart of a lion inside, powerful, dedicated, wonderful. He was meant to be Sakura's soul mate, but her broken state would leave him lonely forever. That was cruel.

"I am the Witch of Dimensions, Ichihara Yuuko. Do not be afraid. I am here to help you," she told them coolly.

"Yuuko-san," Syaoran said quickly. "Please, can you help her?"

Sakura sagged to her knees and then fell flat. She made no move to get up. Too far gone…

The choice would have to be Syaoran's.

"You have two choices: you may accept fate as it is. She has defeated Spider, but lost herself. The goal has been accomplished: Spider will not be capable of taking over Clow." Yuuko gazed at him. She already knew which choice he would make. "Or you may have the time turned back. Doing so will create a new and drastically altered time."

_Feathers. Memory._

He nodded.

"There will be a price."

"Yes," he said. "I have to save her. I have to help her."

"I understand. The price is your relationship with Yuzuriha-chan and Ryuo-kun," Yuuko said softly.

"They're dead."

"You will meet them in this altered time, but you will not have the same relationship with them. You will meet, touch, and never meet again. The loss is your price," she said coldly.

Syaoran glanced at Sakura, lying there so still on the ground. Rain beat down on them since neither had moved beneath one of the umbrellas. He took a deep breath. "Ryuo and Yuzuriha are my best friends, but Sakura-san…" He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'll do it."

Yuuko nodded and clasped her hands. "I wish you the best of luck," she said.

_Feathers. Memory._

She frowned at the heavens, but said nothing. Soaked to the bone, she called to Maru and Moro and disappeared into her beautiful house.

X X X

So long!

Does everybody see where this is going? Syaoran who wasn't always a prince plus _feathers_ and _memories_? Kurogane being sent away by Tomoyo? Fai suffering with Chi as a little watcher over his brother?  
Xing-Huo being a pawn of Fei-Wang's but doing some good (transporting the other Syaoran from Fei-Wang's world)?

I bet no one was expecting that!

One more chapter.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	20. Epilogue

Last chapter. Stay tuned for my important author's note at the end!

*bows*

Thank you for your support through my laziness.

X X X

Touya was sitting at the deserted bar alone when Yukito's jingling staff was set down at his elbow and the high priest slid into the stool next to him. They were quiet for a long while: Touya sipping his drink and Yukito tracing his finger around the rim of his without drinking.

Finally, Yukito said, "It is finished."

Touya nodded. "I know. I buried my sister yesterday," he said softly.

Yukito offered no comfort, just a quiet tenderness. "She wouldn't have liked life as she was," he said gently.

Touya felt tears prick at his eyes. "She took her own life," he whispered. "The prince found her in his bed, bleeding. Do you think it's because of," he swallowed, "what I did to her?"

Yukito didn't answer. They would never really know.

"I think, if things had played out differently, Sakura and the prince would have fallen in love. They're fated, aren't they, Yukito?"

The priest nodded. "There are other worlds in which they can meet under different circumstances," he told Touya.

He had told no one about the Witch and the girls would not remember ever speaking with her.

The price had been paid and now life went on.

In another world, life would be kinder.

X X X

Xing-Huo leaned low over the back of Chi's wheelchair as they careened through the shining marble hallways of the palace. "So, Chi, what made you decide to take up Syaoran-kun on his offer?" She asked over Fai shrieking behind them. The magician was a real worrywart—it was a little ridiculous, but fun none the less to freak him out.

Chi couldn't shrug. Her shoulder was still healing so she just angled her head, sending a wave of platinum tresses over her shoulder. "He's Sakura's soul mate. He's a safe person," she explained finally. She turned back to the stretching hallway before them and let out a shriek. "Turn or we're going to jump the stairs, Xing-Huo!"

"Hold on tight," Xing-Huo said with a wicked grin.

The wheelchair jolted and bounced down the steps and sent the two girls sprawling across the floor at the bottom. The wheelchair tottered over with a crash.

Syaoran's new bodyguard would never be Ryuo, but he was trying his best to be of help and cheer. He was more a sad, shadowlike memory though. "Girls, I understand you're having fun terrorizing the magician, but Syaoran-kun wants to see you in the throne room pronto. No ifs, ands, or buts about it," he told them and made a shooing motion with his hands.

Fai came scrambling down the steps behind the girls, panting and red faced. "Ladies, ladies, why on earth must you run like that?" He demanded.

"Because it's fun!" Xing-Huo said and stuck her tongue out at him.

Fai stooped over, took both of Chi's hands, and lifted her back into her wheelchair. Her legs hung limp and heavy, unused and weak. She was all smiles, but Xing-Huo saw the grief in her eyes. The girl missed running and dancing and skipping and playing games.

Then, the air of sadness came rushing back over them in full force. The new guard cleared his throat and gestured for everyone to get moving, but they were a slow procession. Fai grasped the handles of Chi's wheelchair and Xing-Huo took the pale girl's hand and walked alongside her. The guard hung back, knowing he could never take the place of those two people lost.

The altars were set up in the throne room: Kurogane, Tomoyo, Sakura, Ryuo, and Yuzuriha. Soft white candlelight spilled out against the ceiling and across the floor. The pictures were sketches, drawings but beautiful and good. The work was masterful enough to put some light back in Tomoyo's cynical eyes and Sakura's dead ones.

"Syaoran-kun?" Chi called and offered the prince a smile when he hurried off his throne to wrap his arms around her. She melted into him, breathing hard against his neck. She wouldn't allow the tears to fall, but her sadness was palpable. "It's alright," she whispered.

Fai wrapped his long arms around them both and then Xing-Huo folded herself against him until he drew her into the embrace as well. Syaoran reached for the new guard.

They fell in on each other, leaning for support.

Anguish was tight and heavy in the air.

Finally, Syaoran pulled the embrace apart and gazed at his friends. Chi smiled through her pain, Fai's face was fake and warm, Xing-Huo's eyes held hope, and the new guard was strong. He was a lot like Ryuo though he would never take his place.

Clow would never know the sacrifice they had given to protect it.

Sakura.

Yuzuriha.

Ryuo.

Tomoyo.

Kurogane.

Gone forever, but the ones who lived had to live on regardless.

Syaoran smiled.

At least they wouldn't be alone…

X X X

And, _drum roll please_, we are finished!

Here we go. Very _important_ author's note:

First, drop a review and let me know what you think! Are the characters way out of character? Does everybody hate Sakura? Think I torture Sakura way too much (but it's because it's her turn! Syaoran usually gets it)? Are permanently disgusted and can no longer even watch/read Tsubasa thanks to me? Loved it? Hated it? Are scared for life because of what happened to Sakura? (Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and weenies!) Think I need to do more editing before I post chapters? Post to slow? Yada, yada, yada…

Second, there will be no sequel… at all, so don't ask!

Third, I own nothing except my original character Spider. I also own my plot! So there, now I can't be sued!

Fourth, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! The Breaking of Poisonwood by **Paradise Avenger**. (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected _this_. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The _Poisonwood_—)

Thank you, Anonymous XD for the original idea: which was making Syaoran the prince.

Finally, thank you for making it this far! All the way to the end! Woot!

*Fai fake whistles*

And so, I bid you adieu.


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